


Freak Show

by Shreiking_Beauty



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bad Man in the Moon, BlackIce, Card Games, Child Abuse, Circus, Family, Fantasy, Feels, Fluff, Freak Show, Good Pitch Black, Humor, Jack's Sister - Freeform, M/M, Monster!Pitch, No Beta, Past Child Abuse, Romance, Rough times ahead, Running away with the circus, Tents, Trains, Trying to add tags, grilled cheese sandwiches, minor original characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-26
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-03-19 19:03:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3620844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shreiking_Beauty/pseuds/Shreiking_Beauty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jackson Overland, in an effort to rescue his sister and himself from his abusive father, runs away with the circus! With his ice powers, he joins Mr. Moon's World Famous Freak Show!!! There, he meets Tooth, North, Phil, Sandy, Bunny, and . . . Pitch!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mr. Moon's World Famous Freak Show

Jackson Overland glowered at the ground as he walked against the autumn wind to his little sister's school. He hoped Emily could wait inside the doors where it was warm, but he knew her school had a ridiculous rule about keeping them out unless they were doing something important.

 

He continued to grumble to himself about the small town's horrible school system when something smacked him in the face.

 

He stood frozen in shock for a second, then sighed exasperatedly, peeling the purple flier off his face. It was an advertisement for a circus coming through the county, most specifically their World Famous Freak Show. He continued reading the flier as he walked.

 

**Come see the Circus!**

including

****

**_Mr. Moon's World Famous Freak Show!!!_ **

****

_Wonders your eyes have never beheld!_

_Mr. Moon only chooses the rarest and most spectacular for his show!_

**October 1-7, 6:00 pm to 1:00 am**

**Tickets**

**Adult: $25**

**Child: $10**

 

VIP Freak Show: October 7th by special invitation ONLY

Jack smiled a little to himself as he thought of his sister at the circus. He vaguely remembered going to this circus when he was a few years younger than her, with his mother. It came through every five years, but most people in the small town of Burgess couldn't afford to blow their money on the event. Which reminded Jack that he didn't have $35, let alone the fact that that was just the entrance fee. You probably had to pay for every individual attraction on top of that. In any case, it was already October 6th, and he had no hope of somehow earning the money.

 

He sighed and looked up, finding himself at the school. A few parents were there picking up their kids, but most had left already. The remaining kids stood just inside the doors, peering out the window anxiously for their parents. He made eye contact with Emily, and she smiled and came running out to him.

 

She walked silently next to him. She was always excited to see him, but less excited to go home to their abusive father. He never hit Emily, Jack made sure of that, but it was a terrible environment. She huffed as she hefted her heavy backpack on her tiny frame. He always made her keep a full change of clothes in the backpack in case they needed to run.

 

He was always prepared to run. He'd been secretly looking into gaining custody of his sister for almost a year. He turned 18 last December and has been trying to get his hands on the legal documents ever since. Still, it was difficult, and he was determined to never leave unless it was absolutely necessary.

 

He grew increasingly nervous as Emily passed the age he had been when his father started beating him, but he hoped that if he was there to take the brunt of it, his father would leave Emily alone.

 

Lost in his thoughts, they had made their way to the center of town, when he noticed a small crowd gathered at the edge of the park (that was really more of a yard) in the center of Burgess. Emily excitedly tugged at his hand and pointed at the extravagantly dressed man in the center of the crowd.

 

“Free VIP tickets to the circus to you and a friend if you can hit the target three times in a row!” He shouted to the crowd, gesturing to a small carnival game behind him. Several people lined up to toss a bean bag to the target, all missing.

 

“Try it, Jack!” Emily insisted. “You're the best snow-ball thrower ever! You can beat that easy!”

 

The thought was appealing, being able to take Emily to the circus after all, but he was sure the game was rigged somehow, so he didn't want to get her hopes up.

 

“Alright, I'll give it a try, but I doubt I'll win,” he told her, getting in line.

 

The other kids smiled and cheered at him, the others in line even letting him pass them.

 

“Jack can do it!” they said. He laughed at them and grabbed the three blue bean bags, taking careful aim and hurling the first one.

 

It hit the target with a _bing_ and a red number 1 appeared on the screen above it. Another hit and the number turned into a 2. The children seemed to hold their breaths in anticipation as Jack aimed for the third. Another hit.

 

The number 3 flashed and little music played. The man slapped him on the shoulder and handed him two VIP lanyards. “These will get you into any attraction at the circus free of charge!” He announced grandly.

 

The kids cheered, especially Emily, who was jumping up and down proudly. “Can we go, can we go?!” she asked, tugging on his arm.

 

Jack looked at her sadly. “We'll ask Dad, okay?”

 

Her smile fell, before returning partially in understanding. “Okay,” she conceded.

 

================================BLACKICE===================================

 

Greg came home drunk. Jack stood in the hallway, peeking around the corner to gauge the situation. Greg had three stages of drunkenness: just passed a buzz, when he would scream and yell at Jack; seriously drunk, when he would beat Jack into a bloody mess; and drunk off his socks, when he became bizarrely affectionate.

 

Jack snuck in and sat next to Greg on the arm of his chair. He had put Emily to bed early and planned it all out. Greg petted his back and sighed contentedly, whispering things to him about how much he loved him and how good Jack had been to him since his mother left them.

 

“Dad?” Jack asked tentatively.

 

“Yes, Baby?”

 

“The circus is here. Can I go?” He carefully avoided mentioning Emily; Greg took out both his rage and affections on Jack, leaving Emily a neglected hole in his life and a subject he preferred to ignore.

 

“You have quite expensive taste, Baby. But, I suppose you've earned it. How much is it?” He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and rifled through the huge wad of cash he always carried with him (he didn't 'trust' banks). Jack was trying to think of a way to explain that he had won free tickets without it seeming like he had already planned to go without asking first, but when he saw the money, he seized the opportunity.

 

“Tickets are thirty,” he said, milking him for all he had, “but you have to pay for everything inside separately.”

 

Greg nodded, attempting to count the money, but in his drunken haze, gave up and handed Jack a few tens and twenties that added up to $110. Jack smiled and grabbed the money, throwing his arms around his dad in exaggerated gratitude. When he pulled away, his dad was already unconscious.

 

Jack pulled away gleefully, hurrying upstairs. He saw a pinkish glow coming from Emily's door, so he opened it gently to see her sitting up in bed with a picture book, her room illuminated by her pink-shaded desk lamp. She looked up at Jack with wide, hopeful eyes.

 

He couldn't stop his smile lighting up his face. “We're going to the circus tomorrow.”

 

She beamed and squealed at him excitedly.

 

================================BLACKICE================================

 

Emily screamed and pulled Jack toward the entrance to the circus. The grounds were filled with strangers from the wealthier surrounding towns. The same man that had been in the center of Burgess conducting the game for the free tickets was at the entrance, greeting the patrons with wild enthusiasm.

 

“Ah, the little man from Burgess with the good arm!” he greeted as he saw them. “Welcome to the circus! Enjoy, enjoy!”

 

Emily was so excited; they had been through almost half of the attractions in the first hour. They had been on several rides that made his stomach turn, gone through (and gotten sufficiently lost in) the Fun House of Mirrors, and looked at all the animals in the cages.

 

There were a few tents around, each with an announcer outside, that held little interest to Emily: a booth where charms were sold, a fortune teller, a dream interpreter. Actually, the dream interpreter one caught Jack's eye. It was made of sparkly black, blue, and purple cloth, very dark inside. He stepped closer, listening to the announcer.

 

“For ten dollars only, have your dreams interpreted by the one and only Pitch Black, the Nightmare King! Or, if you're feeling extra brave, for twenty dollars, have your deepest fear revealed!”

 

A group of boys around his age laughed at him. “I'm not afraid!” one declared boldly, stepping up to the man and handing him a twenty.

 

“I must warn you, boy, most who enter here leave with much less confidence! You may think you know yourself, but you'll surely be surprised!”

 

Assuming it was all an act to freak people out, the boy just laughed and entered the tent while his friends waited outside. Emily tugged on Jack's arm impatiently.

 

“Wait a minute, Ems, I wanna see this.” Jack wondered what his deepest fear was. He suspected it was probably drowning, because of that . . . incident. Then again, he feared greatly for his sister's safety. And it could be his own fears of his father. Actually, it could be a lot of things, now that he thought of it.

 

It was several minutes before the boy emerged, looking distressed. His friends asked him what happened with concern.

 

“Nothing, forget it, that place is dumb. Come on, let's go . . . do something else.” His voice trailed off at the end, and he left with the disheartened group. Jack was astonished at his change in demeanor, and the announcer saw his expression.

 

“Ah, curiosity. I can smell it on you. Want to see what changed him so much? Want to know what your biggest fear is?”

 

“Jack's not afraid of anything!” Emily told him confidently. He smiled down at her.

 

“Why don't we just see about that?”

 

Jack didn't want to leave Emily out here alone, but he was desperately curious, a known weakness of his. The announcer seemed friendly enough, anyway, despite the whole 'this is a terrifying place' thing. He showed him his VIP badge and the man smiled, letting him in, and kneeling down to keep Emily entertained while he was gone.

 

Inside the tent was dark as night, the artificial lights from outside peaking through tiny holes in the cloth like stars. It was also quiet. No sounds of games and children and rickety roller coasters penetrated the tent. The entryway let him into a small, empty space, with another entryway in front of him. He went through and entered a slightly larger room, with a low table between him and a man.

 

The man sat dressed in all black, almost blending into the surrounding shadows, save for his striking golden eyes that almost appeared to be glowing. He had pale, grayish skin, and attractive angular features. Jack felt himself blush as he thought of his attractiveness, but it was overshadowed by the fear he felt in the small room. He found a small cushioned seat in front of him, and sat on it gently.

 

“No crystal ball?” he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

 

“I'll leave that to the fortune teller,” the man replied in a deep, sexy British accent that made Jack swoon slightly. “Now, have you come for a dream interpretation, or do you wish to know your deepest fear?”

 

“Um, fear, I guess.”

 

“Are you certain? Most people are quite upset with this knowledge. I'd hate to spoil your evening.”

 

“No, it's fine, I'm sure. Actually, I think I might already know what it is.”

 

The man smirked. “Everyone says that, but I have yet to meet a person that has guessed correctly.”

 

Jack bit his lip, the fearful environment making him nervous. He nodded his head for the man to continue.

 

“Look into my eyes,” he said calmly. The words reminded him of some cheesy hypnotist, but his tone reminded him of the calming, loving words of his mother. He found himself entranced in those golden eyes, losing track of time as they peered into his soul and searched for his fears. The trance broke when the man leaned back, never taking his eyes off him. “Loneliness,” he declared.

 

“W-what?”

 

“Loneliness. Isolation. You fear being abandoned and ignored, cast aside. You fear being alone.”

 

Jack felt the air freeze in his chest. Of course, it all made sense – he remembered being in the water, freezing and pained, and terrified. Only now, he remembers what he wanted. He'd forgotten, but now, he recalls his thoughts as he drifted through the darkness. It wasn't a coherent sentence, like internal monologue, but it was there. He wanted someone with him.

 

He felt so alone, so isolated. He knew he was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it, so he accepted it. But what plagued his mind and drowned him in despair was his desperation for companionship. Just some spirit to hold his hand as he slipped away. He wished with all his heart that if he was going to die, at least he wouldn't die alone.

 

The man leaned forward again, pulling Jack from his thoughts.

 

“Don't be afraid,” he said quietly. “You're not alone.”

 

Jack didn't remember leaving, but suddenly he was outside the tent, with Emily laughing and pulling him to the next thing that caught her attention. He smiled and followed her, pushing the tent to the back of his thoughts.

 

They were on their way through the games, competing in rigged games for cheap stuffed animals, when the crowd began excitedly making their way to the large tent and an announcer came through shouting through a megaphone that the show was about to begin.

 

When he and Emily arrived at the entrance, they were led to a special VIP box right in the front. There were a few other people there, wealthy looking men in suits with stern faces. Jack thought they certainly didn't look like typical circus goers, and felt a little inferior next to them, but he ignored it for his sister, who obviously didn't mind and was jumping up and down excitedly.

 

The show was a typical circus show. The ringmaster announced the acts; first were the acrobats, then lion tamers, fire dancers, elephants, and finally, the clowns. Amidst their act, they even invited Emily up to help them with silly magic tricks; pulling things from behind her ear, and having her pull a bunny from a hat. They then made her disappear, which panicked Jack for a moment, but a small, kind-looking man quietly lead her back to her seat without the rest of the crowd noticing.

 

After the clowns, the tent grew dark and dramatic, and the ringmaster announced Mr. Moon's World Famous Freak Show.

 

A spotlight shone down on a man with hair as white as moon beams, wearing a sparkly blue suit. He began announcing his show, saying something about how they had traveled the globe and performed for famous and royal such and such – Jack hadn't really been paying attention. After his introduction, five people came out from behind the curtains. Mr. Moon introduced each one individually.

 

First was an older looking man with a long, white beard, guiding an enormous creature on a chain leash. He was introduced as Nicolas St. North and the Abominable Snowman. He tugged on the leash, earning a low growl from the creature, and went to stand on the other side of the stage.

 

Next was the small man that had guided his sister back to her seat. He had shed the dark cloak he was wearing earlier, and now appeared to be wearing a golden robe. He was introduced as the Sandman, and indeed both his hair and robe looked like they were made of bright golden sand. The Sandman drew two long whips of the same gold sand and twirled them around like ribbons at the end of a baton.

 

After he went to stand next to Nicolas St. North, a woman gracefully strode in, covered in colorful feathers with purplish wings on her back. There seemed to be several hummingbirds fluttering around her. She was introduced as Princess Toothiana: the Bird-Woman, and she did a little turn, spreading her wings and ruffling her feathers.

 

Next, a man walked in that appeared to be covered in bluish gray fur, and was also adorned with bunny ears. He walked on the balls of his feet, like a rabbit. Mr. Moon called him E. Aster Bunnymund: Half Man, Half Rabbit.

 

Last, Jack recognized the man from the tent he had visited earlier, the one that had told him his fears. His eyes glowed gold, his skin was pale gray, and his long cloak blended in with the shadows. The world seemed to darken just around him. Mr. Moon called him Pitch Black: The Nightmare King.

 

All five of them bowed dramatically before exiting. In a billow of smoke, Mr. Moon disappeared and was replaced with the ringmaster, who thanked everyone for attending and reminded everyone that many of the attractions would still be open until 1 am.

 

As they were exiting, Emily squealed excitedly, describing her favorite parts to Jack.

 

“Did you see when the clowns brought me up there?! That was so cool! They had this hat, and it was totally empty, but when I reached in, there was a bunny rabbit in there! How did they do that?! And, they pulled a quarter from behind my ear and they let me keep it!”

 

“I know, Ems, I was there!” Jack teased. They were stopped just outside the door by the announcer that had given them the VIP passes.

 

“Whoa, don't tell me you're not going to the VIP Freak Show! It's by far the most spectacular event you'll ever encounter!”

 

“I thought you needed a special invitation for that,” Jack said, wondering what was different about the VIP show from the one they had seen.

 

“Consider yourselves invited,” the man said, poking his VIP pass. Emily tugged on his hand excitedly.

 

“Oh, can we go, Jack, can we go?! Please?!”

 

“I don't know, Ems, it's getting pretty late . . .”

 

“Come on, please!!! I _need_ to see it! I don't even have school tomorrow!!!”

 

Jack couldn't help laughing at his little sister's enthusiasm. “Okay, okay, we'll go! But straight home and into bed afterward, okay?”

 

“Okay!”

 

Jack let himself be pulled back into the tent by his sister. They had to wait until everyone cleared out, except for them and the other VIP members. It was incredibly quiet without the overzealous crowd cheering at every event. Even Emily tried her hardest to keep quiet, just now becoming aware of the strange men around them.

 

After a few minutes, the lights dimmed down again, and Mr. Moon approached. “Welcome, honored guests,” he greeted. He spoke much more quietly now, speaking directly to the VIP box. “What you are about to see has been reserved for a select group. This show is not made up of mere tricks and costumes. The exhibits here are true freaks of nature, rarer than the most precious objects in any museum in the world, I guarantee it. Today, you will be allowed to get up close and personal with Mother Nature's most spectacular mistakes!”

 

Naturally, Jack had assumed that the freak show _was_ a mixture of costumes and illusions, and he was well and thoroughly shocked by the following events. The same five people came back in. This time, Nicolas St. North came in with the creature unleashed. The beast walked more upright and had a higher air of intelligence. He even appeared to exchange a few words with St. North.

 

Following him was the Sandman, who seemed to be glowing, and was actually, literally, _floating._ Jack gaped in awe, speechless, as he watched the small man float next to St. North. Princess Toothiana _flew_ in next, using her _actual_ wings. Bunnymund followed her, hopping on all fours like a real rabbit, nose twitching and all.

 

Pitch Black came in last, at first walking in normally, but quickly shape-shifting into some sort of monster. He grew in size, his limbs elongated, black spikes grew from his skin, he bent forward to walk on all fours like Bunnymund, and his teeth sharpened as he sneered and growled lowly. His black cloak, still blending in with the shadows, covered most of his body, but he had a very feline appearance, lean and graceful.

 

“Honored guests,” Mr. Moon said again, “come forward, see for yourselves that these are as real as you are.”

 

The men stood and entered the ring, walking up to the people and examining them. Emily, after hesitating, got up too, and followed them. Jack was more hesitant. Enthralled in what he was seeing, he was frozen in a state of shock. Seeing his sister up there, though, cleared his head, and he went to stand behind her, putting a protective hand on her shoulder. Not that he was afraid of the people in front of him, but this whole thing was very suspicious and unnerving.

 

Emily started by approaching the Abominable Snowman. One of the men was there, looking over the beast, and he reached out a hand to pull back the creature's lips to look at his teeth. Jack felt his stomach twist at the way the man scrutinized it, like it was a shirt he was looking to buy.

 

Emily, on the other hand, seemed to look at it like a child would look at a puppy at a pet store. She smiled up at it, fearless with her older brother there. As the man became disinterested and went to look at the others, Emily ran her hand over the creature's furry arm. “My name's Emily,” she said quietly.

 

Jack gasped as the creature grumbled and bowed before her, putting one arm behind him and the other in front of him, as if he was saying 'it's a pleasure to meet you, milady.' Emily giggled at him.

 

Next to them, one of the men was talking with Mr. Moon about the Sandman. He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling away with several grains of sand clinging to his skin. He rolled the grains between his fingers, talking in hushed tones with Mr. Moon.

 

On the other side of them, two men were looking at Toothiana, who looked very nervous under their scrutiny. One of them touched the tip of her wind, which flinched away from him involuntarily. The other ruffled the feathers on her arm. When she was distracted by the other man, he plucked one of her feathers out, earning a startled yelp from the woman.

 

To Jack's dismay, Mr. Moon sent Toothiana a sharp glare, and she responded with a shy apologetic look. Emily was enthralled with the woman, looking at her with wonder. Jack took her moment of distraction to look at the remaining two 'exhibits'.

 

Bunnymund was being poked and prodded by the same man that had been examining the yeti. He seemed to be resisting jerking away from his every touch, and somewhat failing at that. Pitch Black, being examined by three men, was much less restrained. In this monster form, he seemed to have more animalistic behaviors, as well. He growled quietly at the men looking at him, and snapped his teeth at them when they tried to touch.

 

The men started talking to Mr. Moon about him, leaving him alone for a moment. Jack approached him, leaving Emily, who had returned to the yeti. Pitch Black glared and growled as Jack approached, and he stopped where he was, recognizing the warning that that was close enough. Unlike the other VIP men, apparently, Jack wasn't a complete moron, and he knew how to act around animals. He slowly extended his hand, palm up, for the creature to smell.

 

He smiled when Pitch Black moved forward, sniffing his hand, and gave out a breathy laugh of disbelief when he started snuggling his hand. Jack moved closer to him and pet his hair while he rubbed his face into Jack's chest.

 

“Hey,” one of the men said sternly. Jack looked up to see everyone looking at him, the first time any of the other VIP members acknowledged him. “How do you do that?”

 

“W-what?” Jack stammered.

 

“Touch it,” Mr. Moon interrupted. “It never lets anyone touch it.”

 

Jack's eyes widened. He looked down at the monster that had gone still against his chest, his low growl returning as he looked at the others who's attention had returned to him. “I-I don't know, I guess . . . I guess he just likes me.”

 

They continued to stare at him, and he grew anxious. They slowly went back to what they were doing before, but it did nothing to calm his nerves. He pulled away from Pitch Black, who let out a small whine, and grabbed Emily. “Come on, it's getting late,” he said in excuse. Emily protested vocally, but followed her brother obediently.

 

They walked home silently, through the crowds that had thinned out after the show. It was nearing midnight, and the buses had stopped running, so they had a long walk.

 

Jack couldn't stop thinking about the freak show. They were _real._ And Jack . . . Jack had a secret.

 

Jack was like them. He was like Mr. Moon said; rare, a freak of nature, a mistake. Ever since the accident, when he fell in the freezing pond after saving his sister four years ago, and woke up mysteriously on the shore of the pond, unharmed, with white hair and blue eyes . . . ever since then, he had been able to do things. Very unnatural things.

 

It started with making it snow in his room, making icicles on his desk, and making the wind dance around him. Now, he could conjure and control snow, ice, and wind, easy as he could walk. As he left the circus, he allowed his mind to fill with fantasies of running away with them, being in a place where he could show off his powers, earning a living by entertaining children with his abilities.

 

He could do it, too. How could this 'Mr. Moon' character turn down such a spectacular 'exhibit'? Sure, being scrutinized by wealthy men would be degrading and humiliating, but it would be worth it. Hell, anything would be better than living at home.

 

Jack opened the back door as silently as he could. The living room light and TV were on, and he was hoping to slip through the kitchen and up the stairs without his father noticing. Luckily, he was either asleep or passed out in his recliner, so he hurried Emily up the stairs to tuck her in.

 

“This was the best day ever,” Emily said sleepily as she climbed into bed, teeth brushed and wearing her pink frilly pajamas. “I wish we could go to the circus every day.”

 

“Really?” Jack teased quietly. “You don't think you'd get bored?”

 

“No way,” Emily said through a yawn. Jack kissed her on the head gently, muttering a soft 'good night'.

 

**There you go, first chapter! I already have chapter 2 written but I wanted to see how this one went first! What do you think of monster!Pitch? I read a fic and fell in love with the idea. Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

Jack stared at his reflection in the mirror, frowning at his startlingly white hair. After saving up every cent he could for over a year, he was able to afford hair dye, only to have it rinse right out. If that wasn't enough, he had the bathroom window open for half an hour and still couldn't get the stench of chemicals out. If his father came home to a house smelling like chemicals, he would get the beating of a lifetime.

 

In a last desperate attempt to diffuse the smell, he opened the bathroom door, then the kitchen and living room windows. Now the house would be cold, but at least it wouldn't stink.

 

“Jack!” Emily complained. “What are you doing? It's freezing!”

 

“I tried to dye my hair, I just need to get the smell out,” he explained.

 

“You're hair looks the same as always,” Emily pointed out. She then looked worriedly at the stove clock. “Dad will be home any minute!”

 

“Shit!” Jack groaned. He hadn't expected the hair dye to take that long. “Emily, go wait in your room.”

 

“But Jack--”

 

“No, Emily!” Jack knelt down to her level. “Dad's going to be pretty upset when he gets here, I just--”

 

A loud crash pulled his attention to the door just as their father forced his way through it. Jack pushed Emily to the stairs before turning to face him.

 

“Why the _hell_ are all the windows open?!” he screamed immediately.

 

“I'm sorry, I was just--” a sharp slap across the face silenced him. 

 

“What's that smell? It smells like cleaners in here. What did you do?” Before he could answer, his father wrapped his hands around his neck, choking off his air supply.

 

“I-I was – I –” he choked, trying to pry the hands off his neck. Greg turned and looked at Emily, who hadn't run up the stairs like Jack hoped she would, and dropped Jack.

 

“What are you staring at, you little brat?” he snarled before back-handing her across her face. Emily squealed and crumpled to the floor. Greg had never hit Emily before, _ever,_ and Jack felt a rage boil inside of him like he'd never felt before. He shoved Greg aside and grabbed Emily, pulling her up the stairs with Greg screaming after them. Jack pushed Emily inside her room and stood against the door as Greg tried to force his way through.

 

“Emily, get your suit case and fill it up with everything you can carry. Do you understand me? We're not coming back for any of it, so only take what you absolutely need.”

 

Emily was sobbing by now, tears streaming steadily down her face, but she nodded and pulled her roller suit case out from under her bed. She continued to sob as she had to choose which of her things to take with her, and which of her things to leave behind.

 

Greg gave up and stomped back down stairs, leaving Jack to help his sister pack. “I'm going to get my stuff, okay? I'll be right back.”

 

Emily ran toward him and clung to him, crying too hard to speak clearly, but Jack understood and let her follow him to his room.

 

Jack grabbed two changes of clothes, his laptop, his cell phone charger, and the cash he had taken from Greg two nights ago. He fit it all in his school bag, leaving his roller suit case and two bags empty. He took Emily back into her room with the bags.

 

“Fill these up, Ems. Hurry fast.” 

 

Emily tried to stop crying, grateful for her brother's sacrifice. She filled up the roller and one of the bags, finding that she was able to take all of her favorite toys and most of her clothes. She grabbed the other bag and handed it to Jack.

 

“Here, Jack, I don't need this one.”

 

“No, Emily, it's okay--”

 

“Jack.” Jack understood what she was trying to say and sighed.

 

“Okay, we'll compromise: I'll fill up half of the bag, and you fill up the rest. Now, look around your room and make _sure_ there's nothing else you want to take with you.”

 

Emily went through her whole room, remembering her jewelry chest, the books Jack read to her at night sometimes, and her crayons and coloring books. Jack was able to get some of his own books, and used the rest of the space to get their toiletries. Jack bundled himself and Emily up in their jackets, coats, and gloves so they wouldn't have to pack them.

 

Hefting his roller and the two bags down the stairs and his back-pack, and followed by Emily with her roller and back-pack, Jack made one stop by his unconscious father to take the rest of the cash from his wallet before heading out the door.

 

They ended up being grateful for the layered coats against the cold October air. They walked for almost twenty minutes before Emily spoke meekly.

 

“Jack . . . where are we going?”

 

“Don't worry, Ems, it's . . . I know what I'm doing.” In truth, he had no idea. He figured he could take them to a police station – the bruise on Emily's face was enough to get them some help – but he was worried Emily would be taken away from him if they went to the authorities.

 

“Look, Jack!” Emily said worriedly, stopping in her tracks and pointing ahead. In the darkness, they could barely make out a large, looming figure ahead of them. The figure looked at them before lumbering towards them.

 

Jack gasped in terror and almost fell over the bags in panic, but Emily gasped excitedly. “Jack, it's the monster from the freak show! Look! It's the Abominable Snowman!”

 

Sure enough, the creature was close enough to make out now, and he recognized it from the show. It bowed to Emily like it had the night before, and grumbled something to her with his hand out.

 

“I think he wants us to follow him!” she declared. She went back to Jack to get her bag, but the yeti took it from her in his strong arm and carried it for her, also taking one of Jack's bags for him. Jack followed closely, realizing what this meant.

 

The circus hadn't left yet. It was a perfect opportunity. He could get a job with them, raise some money, and take care of Emily. It was perfect!

 

Unexpectedly, the yeti lead them to the train yard. He lead them through to where the circus was being loaded back into it's private train, to a car that had Mr. Moon written on the door. Behind that one were several other cars that seemed to be living spaces. The yeti started leading them toward those ones, but Jack stopped.

 

“Wait a minute, I . . . I'll be right back.” He boldly walked up and knocked on the door, ignoring the warning growl from the yeti. 

 

“It's open!” came the reply from inside. Jack opened the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. The trailer was a shabby living space. Mr. Moon was sitting at a desk, looking through some papers. He looked up at Jack and grinned wryly. “Ah, Jackson. I've been expecting you.”

 

_Well, isn't that the most terrifying thing he could have said at that moment?_ Jack thought. “Ho-How—”

 

“I know everything, Jack. Now, you want to join our little family, don't you?” Jack nodded. “We'll be traveling the country and sometimes the globe, Jack. We're leaving in two hours, and once we leave, we won't return to this place for five years. You'll enter a contract with us, you'll have to do as your told, is that understood?” Jack nodded again. “Are you willing to abandon your former life?”

 

“I thought you knew everything,” Jack replied, unable to mask the anxiety in his voice. Mr. Moon smirked at him. “Wait . . . my sister . . . I'll only agree if you let me take her with us. But she's not a performer, okay? I don't want anyone ordering her around or trying to make her work. She's just a kid, you know?”

 

Mr. Moon gave him a stern look. “This is not a passenger train, Jack, and we're not accustomed to taking along guests. But I've seen what you can do; your 'ice powers' are, to say the least, incredible. If you keep your sister out of trouble, I'll allow it.”

 

Jack sighed in relief, standing up and shaking his hand. “Thank you, thank you, sir, I really appreciate this.”

 

“Why don't you go to the car with the others, get acquainted.”

 

Jack walked back to the door, muttering a last 'thank you'. Outside, his sister and the yeti were nowhere to be seen, so he hurried on to the Freak Show car, hoping they were inside. He hesitantly knocked on the door, waiting for a moment before the Sandman opened it and smiled at him, gesturing for him to come in.

 

This car was a larger living space, with a small kitchen area and a sitting area with a TV. In the sitting area, Toothiana was nervously checking over Emily's bruise, St. North and the yeti were trying to calm her down, and Bunnymund was chuckling at them from the corner. They all stopped and looked up at him.

 

“Jack!” Emily said. “Where have you been?”

 

Jack walked up to her and knelt down to her level. “Ems, remember last night, when you said you wished we could go to the circus every day?” Emily nodded. “Well, Mr. Moon said I could work for him if I want to, so we'll live with the circus now. Is that okay with you?”

 

Emily's eyes lit up and she beamed at him. “Really?! This is the best day ever!”

 

Jack smiled at her, but his attention was caught by the others in the room that were welcoming him to the family. Toothiana approached him first.

 

“Hi, I'm Toothiana,” she greeted excitedly, “But you can call me Tooth!”

 

“I am Nicolas St. North, but you call me North, da? This is Phil,” he said in a heavy Russian accent, and gestured to the yeti that gave him a grumble and a wave.

 

“I'm Bunnymund,” Bunnymund said, “and this is Sandy.” He pointed at the Sandman, who gave him a smile and a wave. Suddenly, two figures made of golden sand appeared above his head, startling Jack. The figures looked like him and his sister, and they were soon joined by the figures of the others. 

 

“He says 'welcome',” North interpreted.

 

Jack smiled and laughed joyfully at his means of communication. “Thanks, everyone! . . . Hey, where's, uh, the other one?”

 

“Pitch?” Tooth answered. “He's out and about. He'll be back soon, I'm sure. Oh, and, he doesn't do too well in bright lights, so we have to keep it dim around him.”

 

“So, we will show you bunk, da?” North said, standing up and guiding him to the back of the car.

 

“What about Emily?” Tooth asked. “She's a little girl, she shouldn't be sharing a room with all of us! She needs her own room!”

 

“Oh, I don't mind sharing --” Emily said politely.

 

“Nonsense, Tooth is right,” North said. “This is no place for little girl, but we will accommodate as much as we can.”

 

“There's a private room in the back,” Bunnymund supplied.

 

“But that's Pitch's room!” Tooth said.

 

“He can give it up for the girl,” he insisted. “I'm sure he won't mind, once we explain the situation.”

 

They lead them through a door at the back of the car to another car that had bunks in it. There were eight bunks, stacked in twos and four on each side, lining the car. Each bunk had platform next to it with a desk and a set of drawers. The car was tall enough that both beds had enough space for a short person to stand on. Five of the beds were occupied.

 

The front left bunk was North and Phil's, with Phil on the bottom and North on the top. Across from that bunk was Bunny on the top bunk, the one underneath being empty. Behind Bunny's were two empty bunks, and across from those were Sandy's and Tooth's. Sandy was on the bottom bed, and on the top was Tooth. A bird cage was on Tooth's chest of drawers, and the hummingbirds that had been with her in the first show were flitting around inside it.

 

Jack smiled at them, but on closer inspection, they looked like little miniature Tooths. Or Teeth, maybe.

 

“Wow, look, Jack!” Emily said excitedly. She climbed up on Tooth's bunk and looked at them closer, and they flew to the end of the cage to greet her. They chirped like little birds at Tooth, who had flown up there to them.

 

“No, no, it's past your bedtime!” Tooth told them. They looked at her pleadingly and chirped some more. “Oh, all right, since she's new, but only for a little while, okay?” The little bird-things squealed and flipped around happily and she opened the cage to let them out to play with Emily.

 

“What are they?” Jack asked in wonder. 

 

“Those are my girls! I don't let them in the VIP show, but they just love playing with little kids! They can't get too close, though. They have to think they're hummingbirds.”

 

“Why? Why don't you guys show all this cool stuff to regular people?”

 

“Because,” Bunny answered, “you know how people are. They might be afraid of us, or try to use our abilities for their own selfish purposes. It's too dangerous.”

 

“I guess you're right,” Jack sighed. “That's the same reason I've been hiding my ice powers.” He started when the lights dimmed considerable.

 

“Oh, don't worry, that's just Pitch,” Tooth said. As she had said, Pitch then came through the door, stopping when he saw Jack and Emily. “Look, Pitch! We've got a new performer! This is Jack, and his little sister, Emily!”

 

Pitch bowed his head politely at them. “I remember you from the show yesterday.”

 

Emily, never being shy, started gushing over him. “That was so cool when you turned into that monster thing! I couldn't believe my eyes! You were really scary, like a cat-person-dragon-thing! How do you even do that?!”

 

“Emily's quite the fan of our little show,” Tooth said affectionately, patting her head. Jack could guess she was doing the same thing to the others before he came in.

 

Pitch walked up to Emily and looked at her with concern. “What happened to your face?”

 

Emily's smile faltered at the memory, a hand flying up instinctively to gingerly touch the sore spot.

 

“Our Dad did that to her,” Jack answered for her. “That's why we left.”

 

Pitch nodded thoughtfully. “I think I have something that can help,” he said to Emily quietly. She smiled gratefully and nodded, and Pitch retreated through the door in the back of the car briefly. He emerged with a small green vile and a little cloth.

 

“Wait!” Jack said quickly, pulling out his phone. “Just let me get a picture of it first.”

 

“Picture?” North said, confused. “Why you want picture of bruise?”

 

Jack shrugged. “Evidence. I don't exactly have custody of her yet, you know?”

 

“You mean, you kidnapped her?!” Tooth gasped. 

 

“I like to think of it more as 'rescuing' her, but yeah.” 

 

Pitch chuckled, folding up the little cloth and turning the vile over it for a second to get the liquid on it. Emily tried to hold still as he dabbed her cheek with it, flinching slightly from the cold. When he was finished, she experimentally poked at her bruise and smiled.

 

“Thanks, it feels a lot better now!”

 

“Pitch, they're living with us now,” Bunny said, drawing his attention. “The girl needs her own room.”

 

Pitch scowled thoughtfully. “Naturally, I would gladly give up my room for her, but you do realize I had my own room for a  _reason_ ?”

 

Sandy put a comforting hand on his arm and smiled up at him, seeming to communicate something Jack couldn't understand.

 

“I don't mind sleeping in here, really!” Emily insisted.

 

“It's no trouble, child,” Pitch told her. “I'll just move my things out.” He disappeared back into the dark room.

 

“You can pick any bunk you want, Jack,” Tooth said. Jack nodded and threw his bag up on the bunk across from Tooth's, so it was right next to the door to Emily's room. He started unpacking his things as Pitch moved into the bunk under him, and Tooth helped Emily move into the other room.

 

Jack couldn't help but smile as he unpacked. He was starting a new life here, and somehow, setting up his bunk made it feel more permanent, more  _real._ He set up his books on the desk, along with his laptop, plugging it in to an outlet he was grateful to find. He heard Emily talking to Tooth excitedly about her jewelery box as they unpacked, and then heard Pitch moving things underneath him.

 

Jack hung over the edge of his bunk to look at Pitch upside down. Pitch was sitting at the desk, arranging several large books in one corner. He stopped to look up at Jack, quirking his brow at the upside down boy.

 

“Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for giving up your room for my sister, so . . . thanks. It really means a lot to me, to us.”

 

“It's nothing, really,” he insisted politely, offering a shy smile. Jack smiled back, but started and nearly fell off the bunk when the train lurched forward and began to move. 

 

“We better get some sleep,” Bunnymund said. “We have to help set up in the morning.”

 

**Oooh, things are really rolling now! (pun intended) Reviews are highly appreciated!**

 


	3. Chapter 3

Jack turned over in his bed, covering his eyes with a pillow to block out the harsh light.

 

“Jack, wake up!” he heard a voice say. Thinking it was his sister, he pulled the pillow away from his face to greet her, but was met with the smiling face of a brightly colored woman.

 

“Aah!” Jack gasped, jumping up and pushing himself against the wall.

 

“Oh! Sorry, Jack! I didn't mean to scare you,” Tooth said, flying back from him with her fairies fluttering around her. “But we're in the next town, and we have to help set up the tents and stuff! Come on!”

 

Jack rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up. There were lights on in the car, and the others were getting out of bed sleepily, except for Pitch and Emily.

 

“Where's Emily?” Jack asked after a long yawn.

 

“We thought we'd let her sleep in. It's not yet five in the morning,” Tooth answered. She seemed to be the only one up and alert; Bunny was rubbing his eyes, North was stretching widely, and Sandy kept falling asleep as he floated, being woken up by Tooth's fairies poking him.

 

“Where's Pitch?” Jack asked. Tooth glanced anxiously at Bunny, who had turned his attention to them.

 

“Oh, he left about an hour ago, he's probably running around terrorizing innocent children . . . but anyway, Jack, I don't think you should concern yourself so much with him.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“He's not exactly all there upstairs,” Bunny joked.

 

“Jack, he's just a little . . . um . . . cranky,” Tooth explained. “Just stay out of his way, and he'll stay out of yours, you know?”

 

Jack frowned in annoyance. He felt inexplicably drawn to Pitch, he was secretly looking forward to getting to know him better, but he was always gone, and now Tooth and Bunny were telling him to leave him alone.

 

_Whatever,_ Jack thought to himself,  _I can't avoid him forever, he sleeps under my bed!_

 

The noise of them getting ready woke Emily up ten minutes later, and she poked her head out of her room. “What's going on?” she asked sleepily.

 

“Nothing, Ems, we just got to get to work,” Jack answered, dropping off of his bed and kneeling in front of her. “You can go back to sleep.”

 

“But I want to watch you!” she complained. Tooth flew over to us then.

 

“It's pretty early, Emily, and you need your sleep! Go back to bed for a couple of hours, then you can have some cereal and watch TV. We'll be back around noon for lunch, and you can watch us after that!”

 

Emily pouted, but Bunny ruffled her hair affectionately as he passed her. “Besides, it's pretty boring stuff. Just setting up tents and booths and getting yelled at by Mr. Moon and his brother, the Ringmaster Solveig. Later, we can show you the animals, and we'll have to train Jack.”

Emily looked like she wanted to protest again; the excitement of the circus still fresh on her mind, but she yawned and conceded with a nod, too sleepy to do anything else.

 

Jack got a change of clothes and went to the bathroom car (after North told him where it was; he might have to leave a note for Emily). After dressing, brushing his teeth, and washing his face, he felt much more awake, and went to join the others in the living car.

 

He couldn't help a small chuckle as he watched Bunny munching on carrots, Tooth feeding her little fairies, North and Sandy pouring unsavory amounts of syrup on their pancakes, and, most of all, Phil wearing a flowery apron in front of the stove.

 

Tooth noticed him first and flew over to him, steering him to his seat at the table. “Eat up! The manual labor starts at five thirty!”

 

Phil piled several pancakes on his plate and Sandy pushed the butter and syrup toward him.

 

The rest of breakfast was spent first with them asking Jack questions about himself, and then a detailed debate on what was a better breakfast food: carrots vs. pancakes. Sandy, North, and Jack were on the pancakes side against Tooth and Bunny.

 

“Nothing like a good, crisp carrot, nice and crunchy! Unlike that sticky mush!” Bunny argued.

 

“Don't be silly, you need all this delicious sweetness to give you energy for the day!” North exclaimed.

 

“What about your teeth!” Tooth huffed. “They'll rot and fall off by Christmas with your diet!”

 

Jack laughed until his sides hurt. Even though he had only known them for a few hours, he was really starting to feel like they were his family.

 

At five thirty, they left the train car, still laughing from the breakfast debate, and met up with the rest of the circus crew. There were twelve acrobats, twenty clowns, three elephants, two monkeys, six horses, a lion, a magician and his assistant, and about a hundred people that set up and ran the place.

 

Since he was new, Jack was put to work hanging cheap stuffed toys that served as prizes for some of the games. He kept getting distracted, though, watching his fellow freak show members using their abilities to set up the larger tents.

 

Bunnymund and Phil were both, evidently, quite a bit stronger than normal men, so they were burdened with the heavy lifting. Tooth and Sandy could both fly, and Sandy could send out whips made of golden sand to move light wooden poles and such. Jack also found out that North had a passion for making intricate toys, and used to give them away to children, until Mr. Moon and his brother decided they would use them as top prizes for the games. Only a few of them have been won, mostly by teenagers that grew frustrated with the rigged games and kept shoveling over cash until they won.

 

He was especially mesmerized watching the big top go up. A huge team of men stood around the large, flattened tent, each holding a rope. There was one long pole in the center, and as the men pulled back on the ropes in perfect sync, the tent rose up in front of the pink sunrise. Through the sheer fabric, Jack could just make out Tooth fluttering near the top, securing some tethers. The men around the outside fastened the ropes with large stakes and started hauling things inside the tent while Jack got back to work.

 

By the time Jack hung the last stuffed panda (that had a hole in it and was leaking stuffing) on the last booth, the sun was high in the sky, and his phone said it was 10 am. He wondered if Emily was awake, and if he should go check on her, but North tracked him down and put him to work helping to fix some wooden benches that had been damaged being packed on to the train.

 

“You'd think, with how nice the train is, we'd be able to get some better prizes for the games,” Jack grumbled irritably as he obtained another of many splinters. North laughed jovially.

 

“Wait 'till you get paid,” he said. “You'll see where the money goes. Besides, is nice living arrangements, yes?”

 

“Yeah, I guess so . . . I just thought the circus would be more about making kids happy than making money.”

 

North laughed again, though this one had a bitter edge to it. “Not so, my friend. Not with Mr. Moon and Solveig in charge.”

 

“How come, if their brothers, they have different last names?” Jack asked.

 

“Both are Solveig, which means 'sun', but Mr. Moon wanted to differentiate himself, so 'Mr. Moon' now.”

 

“Couldn't come up with anything better than 'moon'?”

 

“He is good at making money, not much else.” They both laughed at the joke and continued their work. North ended up fixing the benches pretty well, with Jack's small contribution of holding the wood in place and a rejected suggestion of duct tape. 

 

They finished just before noon, and headed back to the train. It was fairly dark inside, and Jack had to let his eyes adjust to the change in lighting. Emily was at the table playing dolls with Tooth's fairies – well, Emily was playing with a doll, the fairies were their own dolls, sitting at the tiny table having a tea party with Emily's doll, Maisie. Tooth, Sandy, Bunny, and Phil were inside, too, and to Jacks surprise (and delight), Pitch was sitting in the darkest corner, probably the reason behind the darkness.

 

“Jack, come sit here!” Tooth said excitedly, pulling him to a seat in the living area. Emily joined them and they all sat around him. “We have something for you! Sort of a welcome present!”

 

Bunny placed a long, flattish box on the coffee table in front of him, and Jack pulled off the lid enthusiastically. Pulling aside the white tissue paper, he revealed a long . . . stick.

 

“ . . . Um. . .” Jack said, not wanting to offend his new friends as he looked up at their expectant faces.

 

“I know it just looks like a stick,” Bunny said, chuckling a little self-consciously, “but we thought you could use it in your act, as a staff, or whatever . . .”

 

Jack's face lit up then, and he looked back at his staff. It had a hook on one end, like a Sheppard’s crook. “I love it!” he told them, reaching for it.

 

As soon as he touched it, frost erupted from his hand and covered most of the staff, and he felt a surge of energy, like the staff was recharging his battery. He lifted it out of the box and felt a cool breeze ruffle his hair. “ . . . wow.”

 

He looked up at his new friends. Tooth beamed at him and giggled, Sandy gave him a thumbs up, Bunny smirked proudly at him, North laughed jovially again, and Phil patted him roughly on the head with his huge hand. He looked at Pitch in the corner, who was giving him a soft smile, but looked away when they made eye contact.

 

“GROUP HUG!” North shouted suddenly, as he and Phil teamed up to wrap everyone in their arms. Tooth and Bunny laughed uncomfortably in the tight embrace, and Pitch scowled at North for dragging him into it.

 

“We're a real family, now,” Emily said suddenly, and Jack beamed at her in agreement.

 

“Come on, North,” Bunny grumbled after a moment, “I'm starving!”

 

Phil released them and hurried over to the kitchenette, grumbling something to Emily.

 

“I want a grilled cheese sandwich!” she answered him.

 

“Can you understand him?” Jack asked incredulously.

 

Emily shrugged. “I can figure it out.” She smirked at them and went back to play with the fairies.

 

The others followed her, commenting cheerfully on her choice of lunch, but Jack stayed behind, noticing that Pitch had again receded to his corner. Jack sat on the couch next to his corner.

 

“So . . . do you like grilled cheese sandwiches?”

 

Pitch quirked an eyebrow at him. “I suppose they're tolerable. Of course, I don't eat much. I find nourishment through . . . other means.”

 

That piqued Jack's interest. He leaned toward him eagerly. “What other means?”

 

Pitch gave him a wry smile. “Haven't they told you? I feed off of  _fear._ ”

 

Jack chuckled, thinking he was joking, but Pitch continued to stare at him without a hint of humor. “. . . seriously?”

 

“Oh, yes. However, I also _cause_ fear, if I so desire.”

 

“You mean . . . you don't eat food _at all_?”

 

“Occasionally, I might indulge myself, but it is not necessary for my health.”

 

“But how is that even possible? You get nourishment from an emotion! An emotion that you also cause? That's crazy!”

 

Pitch gave a long-suffering sigh. “I can see you have a lot to learn about the world you live in. After all, it is quite impossible for a young boy to freeze a pond over at his mere touch so he can go ice skating in the middle of summer.”

 

“ . . . Who told you about that?” Jack asked quietly, suddenly becoming self-conscious. 

 

“Mr. Moon told me,” Pitch answered simply.

 

“Good buddies, are you?”

 

Pitch's expression darkened considerably. “I wouldn't say that.”

 

“Jack!” Tooth said, pulling his attention from Pitch. “Lunch is ready.”

 

Jack smiled apologetically to Pitch and left to join the others at the table.

 

“So, Jack,” North said, “what are you thinking of doing for the show?”

 

“Oh, uh, I don't know, I haven't really thought about it . . . what am I supposed to do?”

 

“Well, for the regular show, you just walk in and do something small,” Bunny said thoughtfully. “Just conjure up a few snowballs for something. For the VIP show, we usually do a bigger performance, but not a whole lot bigger. It's sort of an advertizement, really, because every other on New Years Day, we do a huge major show.”

 

“What do you mean?” Jack asked, intrigued.

 

“Well, we rent out this stadium,” Tooth answered, “and Mr. Moon auctions a certain number of tickets, so it's very exclusive and very expensive. Then, we do a show that's a few hours long where we show off everything we've got. This year is a show year, so in December we'll have to start getting ready for that.”

 

“Let's just go to the big top and you can show us what you want to do,” Tooth suggested. They finished eating quickly and headed down there, though Pitch didn't follow them. In the tent, crew members were busy stringing up lights overhead. Jack was surprised to see Mr. Moon and Solveig talking quietly in the center. They seemed to agree on something, and Mr. Solveig stalked off, but Mr. Moon stayed to greet them.

 

“There you are! I was wondering when you were going to get here!” He said cheerfully.

 

“Mr. Moon!” Tooth said, obviously surprised to see him as well.

 

“What brings you here?” Bunny said slowly, trying to use a tone that didn't sound offensive.

 

“I thought I'd come help train our new recruit: _Jack Frost!_ ” he gestured grandly to Jack.

 

“Jack Frost?” Emily said, trying it out. “It's perfect!”

 

“You have fine taste, little one,” Mr. Moon said to her, pleased to be agreed with. “You'd do well in show business.”

 

Emily beamed at him, but her attention was soon pulled by the fairies starting a game of tag.

 

Mr. Moon gave Jack an appraising look. “That outfit . . . it's not really working, is it?”

 

Jack frowned at his pale blue t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and black sneakers. “I guess not . . .”

 

“No. There's a collection of costumes in the dressing tent. Come along, I'm sure we an find something for you to wear.” They walked back through the curtain that everyone had come through during the show.

 

It opened to another tent, only slightly smaller than the big top, but not as high. One side of the room had a few people repairing their costumes, a few changing stalls, a long make-up counter, and a lot of mirrors. But most of the tent was filled with boxes of spare costumes. All of them busied themselves looking for a costume befitting a mischievous winter sprite. Jack rejected a sparkly top from Tooth, a fluffy tutu from Phil, and a loud garment from North that might have been a hat.

 

Jack found an old-fashioned blue shawl that he liked, and Bunny found some warm brown pants to go with it. With a wave of his hand, Jack embellished the clothes with frost patterns.

 

Lastly, Mr. Moon presented him with a pair of garish blue shoes with curled toes that had silver bells on the ends. Jack accepted the shoes reluctantly and was shoved into a changing stall.

 

The pants were a little too long, so he rolled them up above his ankle, and looked at the shoes he was given. After giving them a once-over, he decided he was perfectly justified in abandoning them.

 

He stepped outside to show the others his outfit. Tooth smiled adoringly at him, and Sandy gave him a thumbs-up, but Mr. Moon glared at his bare feet.

 

Jack started when he felt something tap his shoulder, and turned to see Pitch standing in the shadows, holding out his staff to him. He took it and looked at himself in the mirror.

 

“This is so right,” Jack said satisfactorily. He felt a gust of wind swirl around him and push him to the main tent. He let the wind guide him, but when he entered the larger space, the wind lifted his entire body in the air.

 

“Woohoo!” He exclaimed. Emily looked up at him in awe. He swirled up into the air for a moment before losing control and falling back to the earth, where he started laughing ecstatically.

 

**Okay wow sorry this took so long to update. Tons of stuff has been going on, my laptop broke twice, I've been planning a baby shower and helping with a wedding . . . it's been crazy. So, sorry the ending is a little lame. I was trying to do like the scene when he first becomes Jack Frost, but I didn't really know how to describe it. Bleh. Anyway review plz!**

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's training and first show!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to write, everything's been really crazy. The power went out while I was playing Super Paper Mario today, so I thought I'd use up the battery on my laptop writing the end of this chapter! So thank you wind storm!

Jack did a lavish spin as he slid into place next to Tooth, leaving a thick trail of frost behind him. Mr. Moon scowled at him. “Jack, please, just downplay it just a little!”

 

“But that's so boring! Walking in here and bowing, then leaving! Where's the fun in that?”

 

“This isn't about _fun_ , Jack,” Mr. Moon said carefully, rubbing his brow. Jack and Emily exchanged a look, both thinking the same thing: _It's a_ _ **circus**_ , _what else could it be about?_

 

Of course, Jack knew the answer:  _money._ But, how did they make money? By making it fun for the patrons!

 

“Can we lose the trail of frost?” Bunny complained from the doorway, testing the slick trail with his foot.

 

“What do you want me to do, just walk in here and be like _oh I'm Jack Frost, just take my word for it_?”

 

“Just make the trail disappear behind you so Bunny doesn't fall on his face and it will be fine,” Pitch insisted irritably, lounging at the doorway.

 

“Okay, let's take it from the top!” Mr. Moon conceded reluctantly. They all hurried to the entrance to start again. This time, Jack skated out more slowly, making sure the ice disappeared two feet behind him, and he did a mild spin as he stood in place.

 

“Better,” Mr. Moon relented. He pointed at Jack sternly. “Stick to that! For the VIP show, you can embellish more.”

 

“I know just what to do!” Jack said. He followed Bunny and Pitch back in to the dressing tent again. After Tooth flew out, Jack followed, skating like he did before, and stopped with a lavish spin, then tapped the bottom of his staff to the floor, making a crystalline star-burst erupt under his feet, and made a tiny snowflakes appear about a foot over his head so it looked like it was snowing just over him. Bunny hopped in after him, followed by monster Pitch.

 

“Excellent, Jack, excellent,” Mr. Moon said. “Now, the rules: these people paid a lot of money to be proven that you're real. Do not speak to them unless they specifically ask you a question. Do whatever they ask you to do. It might be a little uncomfortable if they poke and prod you, just endure it. Under no exceptions are you to break these rules, do I make myself clear?”

 

“Crystal,” Jack said uncertainly. Pitch, who was still in his monster form and lounging lazily in his spot, suddenly stiffened and let out a low growl. Mr. Moon checked his watch.

 

“Five-thirty already. The customers are arriving. Go back to the train, you need to stay out of sight until the show starts.” As he headed off to who-knows-where, Jack called out to Emily, who was running around the top row of the stands with the fairies, and they all hurried back to the train.

 

“So, we just hang around here until eight-thirty,” Bunny told him as he stretched out on the couch and turned the TV on with the remote.

 

“Who wants to play cards!” North exclaimed, producing two decks of cards and holding them up excitedly.

 

“Pass,” Pitch, who had changed back to normal, said dully.

 

“Oh, come on, one game!” North insisted. “We play war*! Very easy!”

 

“As stimulating as that sounds, I have my booth to attend to.”

 

“You don't have to be there for twenty minutes!” Tooth informed him. He rolled his eyes at her, but said nothing as he left.

 

The rest of them crowded around the table, even Bunnymund after some coaxing, and North dealt the cards.

 

Playing with a group of circus freaks turned out to be just as exciting as you might think. They had a list of rules written on paper at the table that they went over for Jack and Emily:

 

  1. No games where you can see your cards if Pitch or Sandy are playing




(because they could tell what cards you had, apparently)

  1. Pitch can not touch the deck longer than it takes to lift a card from it




(because he could somehow 'see' and move the cards through the shadows between them)

  1. Tooth must remain seated the entire game if you can see the cards




(because she had a bad habit of flitting around above them and accidentally seeing their cards)

  1. No Slap-Jack!




(because things get competitive and the table has just been replaced)

  1. No gambling




(because Bunnymund might have a problem)

  1. If the game exceeds four players, two decks are used

  2. If the game exceeds three hours, or interferes with work, unless there is a clear advantage, it ends in a draw




(because settling a tie in a card game is not a good excuse to be late for a show)

 

_War_ was pretty safe to play, since it was a game of chance, so there really wasn't much room for argument, but it was surprising how competitive they were anyway.

 

“Now, that's the third one in a row, mate,” Bunny complained to Sandy. “You better not be cheating!”

 

Sandy gave him an exaggerated offended look.

 

“Ah, I keep getting threes and fours!” North huffed.

 

“Jack, stop frosting the cards,” Tooth scolded, “how do we know your not cheating?”

 

“How would you even cheat like that?”

 

“Yay, war!” Emily cheered. “Me and Phil!”

 

Sandy ended up winning, and as North set up another round, Phil went to start dinner.

 

“Can I sit in the VIP box for the show?” Emily asked.

 

Jack made a face at the thought of little Emily's excited face amidst all those creepy men. “I don't know, Emily, maybe it would be better for you to sit with the rest of the people. There's a lot of good seats!”

 

Tooth seemed to understand his concerns and piped up. “We don't have a VIP show until Friday, so there's just kids that won prizes through the day in the box. You can sit there for now.”

 

Phil grumbled something at North.

 

“What?! We are still playing!”

 

Phil continued to grumble and gesture wildly, making Jack and Emily giggle behind their hands.

 

“Alright, alright, we clean up!” He scooped up the cards on the table and arranged them back into their box as Phil set the table for dinner. He had made chicken stir fry. 

 

Emily chatted about her day while they ate, and helped Phil with the dishes while the rest of them got ready for the show.

 

Tooth and her fairies helped each other clean their feathers, Bunny brushed his fur, Sandy smoothed his sand hair down, and, after finishing the dishes, Phil combed the fur on top of his head into a tuft that he tied with a rubber band.

 

They had to hurry to the tent so North and Jack could get into their costumes. Sandy put his cloak on and showed Emily to the entrance.

 

Jack was jittery with excitement. He kept switching from dancing around with his staff to floating over the heads of the people waiting to go on stage to peek at the show. Most of the people there seemed enthralled by the new boy. Several of them gaped openly at him until he looked at them, then they looked away shyly and busied themselves with their costumes and make-up, but no one talked to him.

 

After a while, the enthusiasm started to wear off, and he started to feel a little self-conscious. It seemed strange that not one of his fellow circus performers said anything to him, or any of the other 'freaks'. They talked to each other, but the only interaction they had with Jack and the others was to shoot them strange looks.

 

Tooth did her best to ignore them. Sandy smiled and waved pleasantly at them, Bunny glared at them, and North returned their looks. It would have been hilarious if it wasn't so disheartening.

 

Finally, Ringmaster Solveig made way for Mr. Moon to introduce his freak show. They lined up anxiously outside the door, making last minute adjustments to their costumes and composing themselves.

 

“Okay, remember your queue?” Tooth whispered to Jack as North lead Phil through the doorway.

 

“Yeah, I got it.”

 

“Make sure the audience can't see you before you go in!” Sandy followed then, and Tooth bounced anxiously on the balls of her feet in anticipation. Two of her fairies fluttered around her, while one sat on her shoulder.

 

It was kind of weird to see her walking now that he knew her better, Jack decided as he watched her walk through the curtains. He didn't think he'd ever seen her walk since she had at the first show Jack saw. He thought back to when he had been sitting in the audience. It was only a couple of days ago, but it seemed so much longer.

 

It was almost surreal to be on the other side of the stage. On queue, he skated out into the ring. It looked bigger than he remembered. The audience was shrouded in darkness, save for a few flashes of cameras. That and the spotlights overhead gave the atmosphere a dreamlike quality. As he gave his staff a twirl and came to a stop next to Tooth, he saw Emily waving at him from the front row of the VIP box, and he gave her a toothy grin.

 

Jack gazed around in wonder at the people cheering at him, especially the childish voices squealing in awe. He bowed and waved at the crowd before skating back out behind Bunny.

 

“So, how was it?” Tooth asked eagerly.

 

“It was . . . exhilarating!” Jack laughed. “All those kids, they were so happy just from seeing me . . . us! It was crazy, and fun! I wish it wasn't so short!”

 

Tooth, Bunny, Sandy, and North laughed with him. Pitch crept up silently behind him, making him jump slightly.

 

“There will be quite a crowd coming out of the tent soon,” Pitch said. “Perhaps you should wait at the entrance for your sister.”

 

Jack nodded at him and sped off to go around the huge tent. By the time he got to the entrance, the audience was just filing out. Jack kept a sharp eye out for Emily, but before he saw her, some of the kids recognized him.

 

“Hey, it's Jack Frost!” they exclaimed to one another. A few of them yanked themselves away from their parents and rushed over to him, and he knelt down to their height.

 

“Did you enjoy the show?” he asked them as they jumped around him.

 

“Yeah, it was so cool!” a little boy said.

 

“My favorite was the fairy!” a girl in a pink dress said.

 

“My favorite was the clowns!” an older girl chimed in.

 

“My favorite was that scary nightmare guy!” said a boy wearing a Nightmare Before Christmas shirt.

 

Jack laughed at their enthusiasm.

 

“Come _on,_ Jeremy, let's go! He's not real, anyway!” A teenage girl sighed impatiently at the Nightmare Before Christmas boy. He scowled at her and told her he would catch up with her.

 

“Ugh, whatever, don't blame me when you get lost!” she rolled her eyes and turned to stalk away.

 

“That's my sister. She doesn't believe in _anything_ ,” the boy told Jack exasperatedly. 

 

“Show us a trick!” The girl in the pink dress demanded, and the other children cheered in agreement.

 

“I don't know, I really shouldn't . . .” Jack trailed off, fighting the temptation to throw a snowball at that girl.

 

“Come on, please?!” Emily had joined the crowd now, and he gave her a playfully stern look, but as the kids stared up at him with their big, hopeful eyes, how could he say no?

 

Jack stood up and held out a palm. With the other hand, he pointed his staff at his palm and formed a snowball, coating it with a thin layer of ice so it would fly better, but not so much that it was painful. As the children 'oohed' and 'awed', he sent the ball flying until it hit the girl square in the back of the head.

 

She shrieked and shivered as snow fell down the back of her shirt. Jack and the kids laughed so hard that several of them, including the girl's little brother, fell over.

 

She stomped over and grabbed her brother by the arm. “Come on, we're leaving right now!”

 

The other children were being called and pulled away by their parents too, so they let out a chorus of goodbye's as they left. Jack waved back at them, still laughing, and turned to lead Emily back around to the train.

 

***Just in case anybody doesn't know how to play war or I've been playing it wrong my whole life, here is a run down of the rules:**

 

**It works best with two to three players, but you can have more. I've even played by myself.**

 

**You divide the deck evenly among the players with the cards face down, and no one can look at the cards in their stack.**

 

**Each player takes the top card of their stack and puts it face up in the middle. The person with the highest value gets to keep the cards in the middle. Ace is the highest value, Joker is optional and could be higher than ace or lower than two. The object of the game is to get all the cards.**

 

**If two or more people put the same card down and it is the highest value, they do a “war”, where each of the tied players puts three cards face down and one card face up, and the person with the highest value gets all the cards in the middle, so all of the original face up cards, all of the sets of three cards face down, and the new face up cards.**

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting into their back-stories now.
> 
> OMG I need to vent to you guys cuz ur my only friends  
> I just agreed to work 9 hours a day 5 days a week in my very physically demanding job! And just before NaNoWriMo too! I’m going to be a zombie until January!

They celebrated Jack's successful first show well into the night, with the absence of Pitch, who had ducked out again to do who-knows-what. Tooth said he was giving nightmares to kids and drinking their fear, but Jack was inclined to think she was joking.

When everyone started to get sleepy, they halted their games and activities and settled down in the living room to talk. Emily curled up against Phil's fluffy side and yawned.

“How did you all get here, anyway?” she asked. “I know about Jack, a little, but I want to know everyone's story! I bet it's a great bedtime story!”

“Well, I'm the newest recruit, besides Jack,” North said. “I brought Phil here about forty years ago. I met him in the Himalayas when I was mountain climbing. He rescued me from an avalanche, but we were trapped in a mountain cave together for almost a week before the snow cleared and I was able to hike back down. We became close friends, and I was surprised how civilized he was! He had a kitchen and made food and everything! He could even read and write! Of course, he acquired all his supplies by stealing from local villages. He always wanted to be able to have a job and pay for things himself, so I promised I would find him one.

“I took him to a few places, first as a cook in a little cafe, then to some shows and things like that, but no one was willing to accept that this great big creature was any kind of intelligent. We were thrown out of more than a few places, and everyone refused us lodgings. Mr. Moon found us one day, I guess he'd heard of us, and offered us a position in his Freak Show. Phil was reluctant at first, but I had a feeling in my belly that it was important for us to accept this, so we did, and we made a new family here!”

“That's so sweet!” Emily cooed dreamily.

“Forty years?” Jack asked nervously. “That's a long time . . . stuck on this train for forty years . . .”

“Oh, it's not like that at all, Jack!” Tooth piped up. “We get to travel, and meet new people, and do fun things all the time! There are some towns that welcome us, and invite us to see their attractions and stuff, so we get to go out and mingle with the people! Of course, they think we're all just in costumes, but they don't question it. It's like a magic act, it wouldn't be fun to watch if the magician showed you the tricks he did afterward, would it?”

Jack brightened up at the thought of traveling the country and seeing attractions. Tooth flew out briefly and returned with a photo album, sitting between Jack and Emily to show them pictures of their adventures; standing in front of museum exhibits, riding roller-coasters, eating food captioned “World's Best/Biggest -----”, among other activities. Tooth's fairies skipped around on the pages, twittering to each other their own memories. There were a couple of people in the photo's Jack didn't recognize.

“Who's that?” Jack asked, pointing to a picture of a girl that had appeared in several photographs. She had long, straight, bluish hair, and one of her eyes was almost white while the other one was black where it should have been white with a dark purple iris and a bright blue gleaming pupil.

“Oh, that's Amethyst. She was in our troupe for almost twenty years. She could levitate objects and could make force fields. We always joked that she was like a super hero.” Tooth stroked the picture with a sad smile, which was echoed by her fairies. “She passed away about fifteen years ago. She was a good friend . . . I was sad to see her go.” Her voice cracked at the end, and she looked away from the picture.

“What happened?” Emily asked quietly. Jack gave her a scolding look, but Tooth smiled in understanding.

“She got sick. Some illness she was born with, I can't recall the name now. She always said 'when you go, you'll regret the things in life that you didn't do, rather than the things you did'. Living up to her motto, she encouraged us to get the most out of every day, and was always excited to see new things. She died satisfied.”

Emily patted Tooth's arm affectionately. “She was a good friend, I'm sure.”

Jack's heart ached for his new friend, but something didn't quite add up. “If she died fifteen years ago, and she was with you for twenty years . . . how long have you been here?” he asked softly, trying not to sound insensitive.

“Wanna hear my story?!” she asked excitedly, perking up immediately.

“Yeah!” Emily encouraged.

“Okay! I was born- well, I think I was born, some time in the seventeen-eighties.”

“Whoa, are you serious?! How is that possible?” Jack gasped.

“Let me try to explain. It's very hard to remember the earliest years of my life. I wasn't born exactly in the conventional way. How can I explain this? I was more . . . created. Someone in Germany doing genetic experiments created me. I think, according to Mr. Moon, a man was trying to get a human embryo to develop in an egg. A hummingbird’s egg, to be exact. His experiments all failed, but with my egg . . . he did something different with it. Mr. Moon says he rescued a fairy, and when you rescue a fairy, you get a wish, so he wished that this particular embryo would take to the egg and live. Of course, as you can see, I'm not quite human. Still, This man was amazed by my beauty. He made a habitat for me to live in, and I stayed in there, learning and growing, for many years, while he tried to replicate the experiment.

“He did a lot of tests on me, I remember, but mostly, I wasn't allowed in the lab. One day, though, he threw out three tiny, failed eggs in frustration. I picked them up, and could sense the little embryos inside, and I wept for their lives. My tears fell on the eggs, and brought them back to life. That's how my girls were born. They're obviously a lot different than me, and I knew the doctor would want to experiment on them. Don't get me wrong, he was a nice man, I wasn't afraid of him or anything, I was just protective of these girls, like they were my own daughters. So I hid them from him. Eventually, he died, and I had never seen the world outside, so we stayed in my habitat until Mr. Moon found us.

We've been with him ever since. Back then, it was just Pitch, Sandy, and the four of us. Eventually, another man joined us, but he was mortal, and he died, too. Then Bunny came along!” She grinned happily at Bunny, who was slouching on the couch, listening to the stories intently.

“What's your story, Bunny?” Emily asked diligently.

“Mine's not all that interesting. I don't know where I came from. The earliest I remember was hiding in a forest in Australia. The town near me had legends and rumors about a giant hare, and several hunting troupes were sent in to capture me. Mr. Moon found me when I was still quite young. I was completely wild, but somehow, he knew I was capable of human intelligence. He took me in and trained me until I became who I am today.”

“I remember when you were brought here,” Tooth chimed in. “It was 1848, you were the sweetest thing, but so fiesty!”

Bunny barred his teeth at her, but she just giggled at the memory.

“What about you, Sandy?” Emily asked. “Were you first?”

Sandy shook his head, and a picture of Pitch popped up about him.

“You know, I've never heard Pitch's story,” Bunny noted. “He never talks about his past. It's suspicious.”

“I'm sure it's nothing,” Tooth said, though she sounded unsure.

“Let's ask him when he gets back!” Emily said, but her voice was getting scratchy and she kept rubbing her eyes.

“Not tonight, Ems, you need to go to bed.”

“Aw, but that's not fair!” she complained.

“We're all going to bed, too, Emily,” North told her. “We all need our sleep.”

Jack was exhausted when he finally climbed into his bed. He was certain he'd never had so much fun in his life, and he was half expecting to wake up in his bedroom in the morning, this having all been a dream. He curled up under the covers, hearing Tooth's hushed voice saying goodnight to her girls before she clicked her lamp off, leaving the car in total darkness.

=======================BLACKICE=========================

_Jack felt like he was floating. Maybe he was floating, he thought, recalling his new-found powers. He felt his staff heavy in his right hand and gave it a squeeze. Looking around, he discovered that he was in the middle of the circus tent. It was empty, save for the VIP box full of stern, grumpy looking men, and Mr. Moon standing a bit behind him._

__

_Where are the others? Jack wondered. And what am I doing here? The show isn't supposed to be until Friday . . ._

__

_A pang of fear shot through Jack like a rocket as the VIP people began moving toward him. A private show . . . because I'm new, maybe, Jack thought. He tried his best to compose himself as the people got closer and closer, until a space in the small crowd revealed one figure left behind in the box._

__

_Emily gave him an encouraging smile, but Jack's mind was far from eased. More and more questions began filling his thoughts, until his mind came to a sudden halt when a new figure emerged from the shadows._

__

_Greg, Jack's father, came up behind Emily and rested a hand on her shoulder._

__

_“No . . . NO!” Jack shouted, as Emily turned and began walking away with their tormenter. He tried to go after her, but the VIP people closed in on him. Dozens of hands gripped him all at once, holding him back. Long-nailed fingers dug into his shoulders and hips and arms and head as he struggled for freedom, crying out for help. The room darkened and, one by one, the hands left him._

__

_As the last hands released their grip, a new panic overwhelmed Jack._

__

_“No, no! Don't leave me! Please! I can't do this by myself! I need help! I need someone to watch out for me!”_

__

_He twisted around frantically, trying to locate any source of light, any at all. He could feel nothing, not even the ground beneath his feet, he could hear nothing but his own panicked breathing and his heartbeat throbbing inside his head, and he could see nothing, not even the shape of his hand in front of his face._

__

_He longed for something, anything to pull him from this purgatory. He would have gladly gone crawling back to Greg's house, as long as there was light and warmth and someone to acknowledge he was there, that he was, in fact, alive._

__

_Suddenly, he was surrounded by water so cold that his skin didn't register temperature, only pain. He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to save them from the frigid water. He held the little breath he had, but his lungs already burned. He flailed his arms and legs, swimming with all his might up, up, up, as the cold sank into his skin, deeper and deeper until it reached his muscles, and they froze solid, leaving him helpless._

Reality faded in slowly. Jack realized that what had woken him up was the burning in his lungs as he held his breath from his dream. He took a deep calming breath and waited out the sleep paralysis, allowing tears to stream out of his eyes.

By the time it faded and he could move again, he registered a soft glow moving under his bunk. Silently, Jack peeked over the side of the bed to look under him.

Sandy, responsible for emitting the small glow, was gently shaking Pitch's shoulder. Pitch frowned and gritted his teeth in his sleep, jerking away from Sandy, but Sandy was persistent.

When Pitch finally woke up, he let out a soft, exhausted groan. “What is it, Sandman?”

Jack assumed Sandy was showing him pictures above his head, but Jack had retreated back into his bed so he wouldn't be seen.

“ . . . I see. I apologize. Thank you for waking me.” Pitch said the words so soft that Jack barely heard them, but he burned with curiosity. Pushing a button on his phone under the blanket, Jack realized that it was almost four in the morning. He was about to go back to sleep when he also noticed that he had 52 text messages and 23 missed calls.

Jack held his breath again, a new anxiety developing in the pit of his stomach. He knew he would have to deal with this, sooner rather than later, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it in the middle of the night. He tried to forget about it, but Jack didn't sleep the rest of the night.

=======================BLACKICE===========================

Not having to wake up at 4 am to set up the circus meant the crew could sleep in. Unfortunately for Jack, who could not forget his dream and the looming messages in his phone, this meant fidgeting anxiously in bed, his eyes burning with exhaustion and his mind whirring with unpleasant thoughts, as he watched the car become lighter and lighter as the sun came up.

Tooth had told him that she typically woke up first, at around seven, but seven came and went, as the fairy was too tired from staying up all night partying, and dealing with her own nightmares of being back in the habitat and trying to hide her girls from the scientist.

Jack gave in and decided to look through the texts, at least. He opened his inbox and scrolled to the top of the long list of new texts. They started out with a lot of 'where are you?'s, merging into threats that got more and more creative, then, surprisingly, there were twenty or so texts involving emotional apologies, promises to change, and begging for him to come back.

Jack was stunned by this development. He had never apologized before, and Jack was starting to consider going back, but those texts eventually ended and the threats returned, with more enthusiasm, making the decision much easier for Jack.

The last three texts were even more shocking than the apologetic ones. They were surprisingly stoic, as though he was sober for the first time in his life, and they reminded him greatly of his mother.

What are you going to do about school?

I've called the police and reported you missing. They're launching an investigation and have likely notified your schools.

The police would like you to call so we can all talk.

Far from easing his worries, Jack felt like he was about to throw up as he realized the police were looking for them. Of course, he knew this would happen, and he knew it would have to be dealt with, but now was the time for dealing with it, and he didn't know what to do.

He looked across the car at Tooth's sleeping form, and wondered if his friends would want to help him, or if they'd be angry at him for having the police after them. After all, they would all probably get in trouble if he was caught.

But he couldn't hide from the police for the rest of his life. He planned on getting custody of Emily so they could live their lives without worries, and he was determined to do so. He crawled over his bed to the desk and opened the drawer where he had put the documents he needed. He had his and his sister's birth certificates, social security cards, immunization records, and other important papers, but he pulled out a thick file of papers he had looked up about adopting his sister.

Basically, he was supposed to move out of their father's house, get his own home that could accommodate a child, hold a stable job so he could support her, and then take their father to court and prove that he was an unfit parent and that Jack could do a better job.

Unfortunately, that was no longer an option. If he believed that Emily's life was in danger, he could have lawfully taken her from the home to the police station, but this . . . this was just kidnapping.

Jack was beginning to lose hope that he would be able to get out of this. At the very least, he hoped Emily would be adopted out into a good family, but as for Jack . . . he would likely be facing jail time. He would probably lose the new life and new family he had acquired.

The sound of Tooth yawning and stretching awake startled him, and he stuffed the papers back into his bag and pretended to be asleep, not ready to talk about this just yet.

“Girls,” Tooth whispered into the bird cage. “It's time to wake up!”

Jack heard the little fairies beginning to flit around the cage, and the comforting sounds lulled him back to a shallow sleep.

He only slept for a few hours, waking up again at 10. The only one left sleeping was Bunny, and Jack went to the living car to join the others. As usual, Pitch was absent.

“Jack, come on!” Emily said impatiently on the couch.

“What's going on?” he asked, sitting beside her.

“Sandy's going to tell us his story now!”

Sandy nodded, getting into position in front of the TV. He waited a few moments for Tooth to drag Bunny out of bed. Then he started making pictures above his head that Jack couldn't understand.

“Okay, he wants me to translate for him,” Tooth said. “Before he starts, he wants us to promise we won't tell Mr. Moon or Pitch what he's telling us.”

“What? Why?” Jack asked.

Sandy gave everyone a stern look and held up a pinky. He then went around to each individual person until everyone had pinky promised.

He went to Jack last, but Jack was reluctant to promise. He didn't think keeping things from Pitch would help Pitch trust him more. Plus, he'd seen enough movies to know keeping secrets was a bad idea.

He looked around at the others’ urging looks, and Sandy's insistent expression, before also pinky promising.

Satisfied, Sandy went back to the front and Tooth resumed translating for them.

“He says in order to understand how he got here, you have to know Pitch's story, and Mr. Moon’s. He doesn't know where they came from, but he and Pitch have existed since humans have.”

Sandy expanded the images so instead of being over his head, they covered the surface of the coffee table. Figures of him and Pitch appeared, and others appeared around them, but Pitch and Sandy grew to be the biggest.

“There were other beings like them,” Tooth continued, “but Sandy and Pitch were the most powerful.” The figures of Pitch and Sandy separated to opposite sides of the table, and the smaller beings separated accordingly. Then, a clock appeared over the middle of the table, the hands spinning fast, and the figures slowly began to shrink and dwindle away until only smaller versions of Pitch and Sandy remained. “Pitch and Sandy were on opposing sides, and the lesser beings were separated as well. Over time, these entities lost their power until they all disappeared, leaving only Pitch and Sandy.”

The figures were then shown fighting each other, but smaller copies of them were shown shaking hands. “So, they fought each other, but then became friends?” Tooth guessed, unsure of this development.

Sandy shook his head, changing the picture so it showed a scale, with Pitch on one side and Sandy on the other. Whenever the scale tipped in favor of one, the other fought to keep the balance.

“They were trying to keep balance between them?” Tooth tried again. “So, they fought, but they . . . respected each other?”

Sandy nodded and gave her a thumbs up. The scene changed and was replaced by Mr. Moon and his brother, with the year 1489 in gold letters above them. Ringmaster Solveig appeared to be standing in front of an adoring crowd, while Mr. Moon stood in his shadow, glaring jealously at him. “In 1489, Ringmaster Solveig was some kind of idol, and Mr. Moon envied his fame.”

Mr. Moon was then shown by himself, kneeling in front of a circle with candles and symbols around it.

Then something strange happened. The sand images . . . they went fuzzy for a second, so Jack could see that Mr. Moon was doing something, but he couldn't tell what it was. From the center of the circle, Pitch emerged, though before he could draw up to his full height, he was stopped by a heavy chain around his neck, the other end of which was anchored to the floor. He struggled against the chain furiously before he confronted his captor, who stood watching smugly. The figure presented Pitch's figure with a scroll of paper and a feather pen, and Pitch seemed to refuse at first, but after thinking about it, he signed the scroll.

All the while, Tooth was still narrating, though it was hardly necessary any more. “Mr. Moon somehow summoned Pitch in some kind of ritual, and talked him into signing a contract.”

The scene changed to show Mr. Moon in front of a large crowd standing next to what looked like a large cage covered by a cloth. Mr. Moon yanked the cloth down to reveal monster Pitch, growling and snarling at the crowd.

Tooth didn't bother explaining this one, or the last scene, which showed Pitch alone in the cage, looking forlorn, as another clock showed the passing of time, until a figure of Sandy appeared and approached him. The mini figure of Sandy looked to be beckoning Pitch out, but Pitch shook his head and held up the chain that was still around his neck.

A thought bubble appeared above Sandy's head, with an image of the balance from before. Then Mr. Moon came up and offered the contract to Sandy for him to sign.

The scene disappeared before it showed whether or not he signed it, and Sandy got Tooth's attention to translate more of the pictures above his head.

“I think he's saying that he didn't sign the same contract as Pitch,” Tooth translated. “He signed one like ours, it's just a regular job contract, and Pitch's is different. I guess it's some kind of supernatural thing.”

Sandy gave her another thumbs up, and Emily started gushing about how cool the story was, but something was still bothering Jack. As everyone started getting ready for lunch (or in Jack's case, breakfast) Jack waited for an opportunity to talk to Sandy.

“Sandy,” he said as they fell behind the group. Sandy looked up at him innocently with a ? appearing over his head. “ . . . What did Mr. Moon to do summon Pitch?”

Sandy's expression darkened, and he patted Jack on the arm sympathetically, shaking his head, before floating off after the others.

Jack frowned suspiciously. More and more he was starting to think Mr. Moon wasn't someone who could be trusted. He looked at his sister with concern, not willing to believe that he had taken her from one hell into another, but looking around at the others in the car, he was sure he could trust them, and they would take care of each other.

The concerns were pushed aside as they continued their day, and Jack's excitement grew as the show approached. He once again found himself bouncing around the backstage area that evening, to the amusement of his friends.

Tooth gasped as she peeked through the curtains. “Look! It's packed!”

Bunny, North, Sandy, and Jack crowded around her, looking through the tiny space in the curtains. There were a lot more people today, mostly children. Jack scanned the crowded VIP box for Emily, but had to move out of the way as the clowns finished their act and came back through the curtains.

“I wonder why there's so many?” Tooth wondered out loud.

“It doesn't look like theirs any more than when I came here with Emily,” Jack commented.

“That was a Saturday ,” Bunny reminded him. “Today is a school day, and they have school in the morning. We probably won't have as many people the rest of the week.”

**  
  
**

Jack thought nothing of it as he got in line behind Tooth. Just like last night, he skated out and spun into place.

“That's him!” A voice cheered from the VIP box. “That's Jack Frost!”

Jack looked ahead and identified the voice as the little boy from last night, who's sister he had thrown a snowball at. Unsurprisingly, the sister was nowhere to be found. Jack smiled and waved at the boy, who screamed excitedly and pointed at Jack to show his friends.

Apparently, he had spread the word about Jack. He saw a few of the other kids from last night, and about a hundred of their friends. Emily, he finally found, was in the front corner of the VIP box, cheering for Jack just as loud as the others.

Jack beamed and waved back at them, laughing excitedly. He bowed and exited the stage still waving.

“Wow, I your a huge hit!” Tooth said excitedly.

“I wonder why?” Pitch muttered sarcastically as he walked by. Jack shot him a suspicious smile.

“What's that supposed to mean?” he asked. Pitch leaned in close to his ear and whispered.

“Don't let Mr. Moon know to talked to the children afterward. And be careful who you reveal your powers to.”

Jack looked with innocent concern as Pitch exited the tent. He decided to be more careful, but snuck out and around to meet the exiting patrons anyway.

As if they were expecting him, a huge group of children swarmed around him as he approached.

“Jack, Jack!” the boy from yesterday shouted to get his attention. “I told everyone at school about you!”

“So did I!” a girl from yesterday said. “My friends didn't believe me, so I brought them to see for themselves!”

One of the said skeptics stepped up. “Do you really have ice magic?”

“Well, magic is a strong word,” Jack answered ambiguously.

“You mean it's a trick?” the boy said as his face fell.

“No, I didn't say that!” Jack assured him. He crouched down to their level and they all leaned in as he spoke quieter. “But adults don't believe in magic, so I have to be discreet!”

“Maybe if you showed them your magic, they would believe!” a small girl suggested.

“Grown ups are pretty stubborn,” Jack told her. “Sometimes, even if you show them magic, they don’t believe in it.”

“Yeah,” another girl agreed, “adults are dumb.”

Jack laughed loudly in agreement.

“Show us another trick!” a boy from yesterday demanded, followed by a chorus of agreement.

Jack smiled warily, but couldn’t resist the hopeful wide-eyed children staring up at him. “Okay, just a small one,” he conceded, “but you gotta keep it quiet.”

They children cheered in hushed tones and followed him around the tent to the side, so neither the patrons nor the performers could see them. The big top had thick red and white stripes that were two feet across and ran vertically about fifteen feet up, with the roof of the tent hanging over the edges. Jack touched his staff to the side of the tent, and tendrils of frost spread from it to cover four of the stripes. The frost glowed a bluish white so it could be seen clearly on both the white and red stripes.

“Wow!” the children gasped in awe. A few of them reached out to run their fingers over the grooved spirals the frost made. They started giggling quietly before they were interrupted by their parents calling their names from the front. “We have to go! Bye, Jack!”

Jack waved at them as they ran back around the tent to their parents. Only Emily and one other girl stayed behind. Jack smiled questioningly at the girl, and she stepped forward and hugged him tightly.

He gave Emily a shocked look over the other girl’s head, and Emily held a hand over her mouth to stifle her delighted laughter.

“Bridgett!” a woman’s voice called insistently. The girl, Bridgett apparently, ran off around the tent to her mother.

==================BLACKICE======================

_I have never felt this sensation before. I’m not in control. I can feel myself being pulled together in a physical form. It has been ages since I have taken this shape, it is an almost foreign feeling. But never have I been pulled into this form by an external entity._

__

_As my eyes form, I can see that I am in a small, dark room. A man stands in front of me. He is tall and tan with dark blonde hair and dull gray eyes. The rest of my humanoid body forms and I am standing on an intricately drawn pentagram. I recognize the symbols, as I recognize the medium with which they were written._

__

_Blood._

__

_I didn’t notice her before. Laying there at the mysterious man’s feet, a tiny girl, no more than five. Her throat had been slit to provide the blood._

__

_But that’s not how she died. No, she was dead before her blood was taken. Had it been taken from a body with a beating heart, it would have gushed out of her before it could be used._

__

_Only one thing could have drawn me here. I can still feel it, the residual fear. To summon a being such as myself, you need a sacrifice. And what better sacrifice for the so called ‘god of fear’ than to kill a child with their worst fears?_

__

_Her hair is still wet. She must have been drowned recently. My newly formed gut clenches at the sight._

__

_The man is still looking at me expectantly. I try to leave, but the spell is strong, I cannot escape the perimeter of the circle, nor can I deconstruct and escape into the darkness. “Why do you summon me?” I demand._

__

_“I want to make a contract,” he answers simply._

__

_I quirk an eyebrow at him. “I will not make any contract with you. Release me!”_

__

_“I will not! Not until you agree to my conditions!”_

__

_I glare at him with as much ferocity as I am capable of in this form. The fear emanating from him grows from a slight apprehension to a frail anxiousness, hardly any gratification._

__

_“Very well, I will negotiate my release,” I reply reluctantly._

__

_“My demands are simple. I am tired of living in my twin brother’s shadow. We grew up together, received the same treatment, went to the same school, had the same friends, and yet, he revels in success while I am left to clean up after him!”_

__

_“That’s all very well,” I hiss menacingly, “but I would like to get on with things, if you don’t mind. What would you have me do? Not kill him, surely. You could have done that yourself.”_

__

_The man smiles wryly. “No, that won’t be necessary. I don’t have the skills to command a crowd as my brother does. I require something else to gain their attentions.”_

__

_“What is it that you and your brother do?” I ask, letting my curiosity get the best of me._

__

_“My brother runs a travelling show of sorts, with performers and animals, to entertain the people of towns all over Europe.”_

__

_“I know what a circus is,” I snap impatiently. “What is your part in all this?”_

__

_“I have a small act of my own, amidst the acrobats and animals. A freak show. I showcase people with abhorrent deformities. There were only five of them, none of which were particularly spectacular.”_

__

_“‘Were’?” I asked skeptically._

__

_“One died, two others quit, I sent the last two away. That’s where you come in. I know you can change form. I want you to appear as a monstrosity that will shock and amaze!”_

__

_I glare skeptically at him. “That is all?”_

__

_“Not quite. One show won’t be enough. I desire a lifetime of success. You must agree to remain in my freak show until I die. And, of course, you cannot kill me yourself. Do we have an accord?”_

__

_He holds out a scroll. Drawn on it is the same seal as is drawn on the floor, and below it are the stipulations of the contract. The small print does not escape me, and I see the line that secures my loyalty to him. I cannot harm him, nor can I allow any harm to come to him via indirect methods._

__

_I growl at him. “I refuse to accept such an arrangement!”_

__

_“I will not release you from this circle until you agree!”_

__

_An involuntary roar rips through me and I lunge forward, stopping just at the edge of the circle as the spell binds me, but I give him a fright none the less._

__

_I know I cannot harm him while trapped in the circle. He knows this too. He holds up the contract once again._

__

_“Surely the lifetime of a human is nothing to an eternal being such as yourself!” he reasons._

__

_I become desperate to escape the prison and return to the shadows. Letting out another enraged roar, I retreat back to the center of the circle._

__

_“You are forgetting one thing! What do I get out of this? What payment do you offer?”_

__

_“As I said, I will release you from the circle.”_

__

_“Not good enough. I want your fear.”_

__

_He frowns at me. “My fear? I don’t know how to give it to you.”_

__

_“I can take it myself. After you die, I will extract it from your soul.”_

__

_“Very well, I accept.”_

__

_I twist my hand to bring shadows to the parchment and form words, editing it to accommodate the changes._

__

_Hesitantly, I stretch out my hand and touch the document, my signature swirling out from my fingertips._

__

_* * *_

_I’m in a cage. I’m less aware in this monster form, less mentally capable, but I am aware that I am in a cage and that I don’t like it. I can hear voices outside, though I don’t understand what they are saying._

__

_The curtains are pulled back. Harsh light invades my sights and I growl in annoyance. More voices now. Gasps of horror and disgust._

__

_I look at their terrified faces and feel their fear. It is a different kind of fear, an ugly fear. For the first time in my existence, I am self-conscious. Embarrassed. Ashamed._

__

_I hate them. The people with their judgemental glares, as if the very sight of me insults them._

__

_I growl again, this time with more intensity and purpose. The fear swells again, but the people do not retreat as they should._

__

_* * *_

_It has been years. He keeps me in the cage. I don't need to eat, but I grow weak without fear. In this form, I cannot reach out to the fears of the world. I am barely sustained by the fears I collect from the people who gawk at me every evening._

__

_Mr. Moon, my captor, has changed. His hair has turned white as Moon beams, his eyes have become a silvery blue. I know he has been cursed with immortality._

__

_He carries on as though my torment will end soon enough. He is unaware that he wreaks with eternal youth. Unaware that I know of his deceit._

__

_And I can do nothing to retaliate._

__

_As long as he continues to draw breath, I can do nothing but let the hate in me build. He will die one day, and when he does, I will make him suffer . . ._

__

_A light comes down, a golden glow that I recognize immediately. Without my presence, he must have come to investigate. He has a name now, the people call him the “Sand Man”. I briefly  recall him going by another name, but I hardly paid attention to that sort of thing then._

__

_He doesn't speak. That much I remember. But he has his own way of communicating, by projecting his feelings to me, and in this way he asks why I stay in this cage._

__

_I tell him about the contract. I think I should be ashamed to say this to him, my adversary, but I am numb to this pain as I am so full of other pain._

__

_The Sand Man reminds me of the balance we keep. When one of us gets too strong, the other fights back. In this case, however, Sand Man is too strong, but I am unable to fight._

__

_I thought he would gloat at my misfortune and mock me for it, but he surprises me. If I cannot rise up and tip the scales in my favor, he will fall to my place._

__

_I don't know what he says to Mr. Moon, but the next night, he is in the cage next to me, twirling ribbons of sand like batons._

__

_The people love him and hate me, but that does not bother me. That is the way it has always been, and that is the way it must be._

__

_Jack . . . Jack_ . . . Jack, wake up . . .

Jack opens his eyes and looks around. For a moment he doesn't know where he is. He was sure just a moment ago he was in that horrible little cage talking to the Sand Man.

His memories return slowly and he looks around his bunk on the train to see who woke him up. Pitch is standing in the aisle between the bunks, looking at him warily.

Jack starts to ask what's going on, but Pitch holds a finger up to his lips and motions for him to follow him out of the car.

Outside of the train, Jack finds Pitch on top of the living car watching the stars. Jack floated up to sit beside him, waiting for him to speak.

“I wanted to apologize,” Pitch finally said.

“For what?”

“For giving you that nightmare. It was my memories of how I came to be here. You must have been thinking about it before you fell asleep. I expect Sanderson told you about it.”

Jack smiled sheepishly at him. “Sorry. Emily wanted to know everyone’s history.”

“It’s alright. But I suppose you have some questions, yes?”

Jack jumped at the chance. “I’m dying to know what you do! You say you feed on fear; how? And what are you and Sandy, really?”

Pitch sighed. “I don’t know what Sandy and I are. I don’t remember any beginning, any defining point when we weren’t and then we were. I don’t even know exactly what our purposes are, just that Sandy brings happiness and joy and I bring fear.

“It was Sandy’s idea first to give dreams. People needed dreams as a way of mentally processing what happened in the day. Sandy influenced the dreams to make them happy, and that made him more powerful. It was only by retaliation that I began infecting his precious dream sand to create nightmares.

“He's always going on about ‘keeping the balance’,” he continued ruefully, “but he's always been more powerful than me. Well . . . not always.”

“What do you mean?” Jack asked innocently.

“Have you ever heard of the Dark Ages?”

“Yeah, we had to learn about that in my European History class.”

“That was a somewhat feeble attempt on my part to eradicate the Sandman completely.”

Jack gasped in shock. Pitch had tried to . . . kill Sandy?

“That was just before Mr. Moon found me. Needless to say, I now have a great deal of respect for Sanderson now.”

“Did you really hate him so much?” Jack couldn't help but ask.

“It wasn't that I hated him specifically, I suppose I was just tired of fighting merely to keep us even. It was like playing chess and doing everything in your power to make sure it ended.in a draw. I wanted to win!”

“Do you still  want to win?”

“. . . No. It was a moment of weakness. I had forgotten how important it was.”

“But why is it so important?”

“I don't know. Sanderson says it is to help the human race survive. Someone else has said that the fabric of the very universe depends on keeping this balance. I’ve also heard that we are preparing for something, that all will be made clear upon reaching this unnamed event.”

Jack thought deeply about what he had said. It seemed that Pitch and Sandy were some kind of divine beings. It was almost too much to wrap his head around.

As he stared up at the sky, a bright light streaked across it. “Look! A shooting star!” he gasped excitedly, not caring if he sounded childish. “Quick, make a wish!”

Jack wished for the first thing that popped into his head, and for once, it wasn’t for the welfare of his sister. He wished that he and Pitch would grow closer. Little did he know, Pitch was wishing the same thing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So so sorry it took so long but was it worth it or what? Pretty long chapter, you gotta admit! So . . . forgiven?
> 
> Also next one will be a while cuz of NaNoWriMo BUT I am nowhere near finished with this story, it is my favorite of all my fanfictions.
> 
> Please please please review


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen.
> 
> I know it’s been like a year but I’ve been living in like a void. I work right in the middle of the day so I have no life outside of work so really for me it’s only been like three months which is still a long time but come on

Jack was sitting alone in one of the dressing stalls of the tent. The curtains did little to muffle the sounds of the other performers getting ready. It was considered quite rude to stay in the dressing stalls any longer than absolutely necessary; costume changes needed to be taken care of quickly and there wasn’t a lot of extra room. Still, Jack did not emerge. It was Friday night, and in very little time he would be performing in his first VIP Freak Show. His gut clenched nervously at the thought. All he wanted was a few minutes to himself to prepare.

 

He hadn’t had much alone time since he’d run away. In fact, more often than not, there was someone else using the bathroom car at the same time as him. He was very used to being alone most of the time, and while the company was welcome, he wished for more time to himself, particularly now that there was so much on his mind.

 

The police had begun trying to contact him on his phone. Every time his phone rang with the number from the Burgess police station, his heart started pounding and his hands would shake, and he would begin to feel nauseous. He kept thinking he should just answer it and get it over with. He would have to sooner or later. But he always came up with an excuse; not while Emily’s in the room, not during rehearsal, not while they’re eating.

 

Pitch seemed to be avoiding him, as well. He only ever saw him just before and during the shows, before he would slink off somewhere unknown, return after Jack went to bed and leave again before they woke up. The others were wonderful, of course, but they were so happy and pleasant all the time, sometimes Jack felt like he couldn’t be real with them. He felt that with Pitch, he could talk about more serious stuff and get serious help instead of just the warmth and encouragement he got from the others. Which was great, of course, but he needed more than that.

 

“Jack!” Tooth shouted through the curtain. “Come on, it’s time!”

 

Jack took a deep breath before exiting the curtain. When he got out to the ring, he noticed that there were four men and one woman in the VIP box. Emily was absent, apparently having taken Jack’s advice and gone to sit with the new friends she had made this week. His smile was forced as he saw several children that had come again as well as many new ones. It was more crowded with it being the last day and a Friday at that. After exiting the ring, rather than heading back to the train, the seven of them stayed behind for the VIP show.

 

“Nervous?” Tooth asked.

 

Jack nodded, not trusting his voice. He was more nervous now than he ever was before.

 

“Try not to worry about it, mate,” Bunny said encouragingly, patting him on the shoulder. “It’s only about half an hour, anyway.”

 

Jack returned his smile with uncertainty before getting in line and heading out once again into the ring, almost forgetting for a moment to do the starburst and the snowflakes. He felt a little sick listening to Mr. Moon inviting the five guests to examine them, especially as he told them to pay special attention to Jack, their newest member, and that this was his first VIP show.

 

He tried to hold still as one of the men and the woman looked him over. Next to him he heard a man asking Bunny how fast he could run and how high he could jump. Jack stared straight ahead, not sure if he was meant to acknowledge their presence or not, since they hadn’t spoken to him yet.

 

A low yet loud growl to his right startled him, and he looked over, expecting to see the men bugging Pitch. One of the men was looking at him, but Pitch’s glare was focused on the people in front of Jack. Jack looked at Bunny, who had also noticed this strange behavior, but looked just as confused as Jack felt.

 

“Let me see your staff,” the man asked suddenly, startling Jack again. Suddenly, Jack felt very protective of his staff, and held it to his chest for a moment, reluctant to hand it over. The man was clearly not impressed, and reached out to take it from him. This made Pitch growl louder, tensing up in warning. Mr. Moon ignored Pitch’s outburst.

 

“Give him your staff, Jack,” he ordered sternly. Jack reluctantly placed the staff into the man’s outstretched hand.

 

As soon as the man touched it, Pitch roared ferociously and pounced on him like a cat with its prey, knocking him several feet away and making him drop the staff. Pitch was crouching over his victim, holding his abdomen down with one enormous hand/paw, and his jaw tightly gripping the man’s shoulder.

 

It seemed the only thing that kept Pitch from biting down and tearing into the man’s flesh was Mr. Moon, who had shouted to Pitch and was now holding out his hand as if to stop him, which seemed to be working. Pitch was frozen over the squirming man, and for a moment everyone just stared in shock.

 

“Let him go,” Mr. Moon ordered. Pitch responded with an insistent growl, though he did not release his captive. Mr. Moon opened his mouth to say more, but Jack interrupted him.

 

“Pitch, please, don’t hurt him!”

 

He hadn't really meant to say anything, not even hoping it might work, but Pitch dropped the terrified man. Before leaping off him, he let out a short roar in his face, as if insulting him. Pitch came to prowl around behind Jack, unconcerned with the argument that then broke out.

 

“I thought you said the creatures were under your control,” one of the men scoffed furiously to Mr. Moon as the other man and the woman assisted Pitch’s trembling victim to his feet.

 

“What are you trying to do, kill us?” the woman added with venom.

 

“I’m terribly sorry,” Mr. Moon attempted to calm them, “I have a little trouble with the monster sometimes--”

  
“You should keep that thing on a leash!”

 

Jack tried to ignore the outraged patrons and started gently patting Pitch’s head to calm him, although he seemed unconcerned with them now and was pushing a little pebble around with his gigantic paw and enjoying Jack’s attentions.

 

 _He really is like a giant cat like this,_ Jack thought curiously. Suddenly remembering the others, he looked up to see them staring at him with mixed expressions. While North, Phil, and Bunny stared at him in utter shock, Tooth looked slightly worried, but Sandy looked almost . . . _pleased._ He smiled encouragingly at Jack for a moment, until Mr. Moon suddenly ushered everyone out of the tent, everyone except Pitch.

 

They hurried back to the train in varied states of shock. Jack glanced back at the tent where Pitch and Mr. Moon had stayed. “What do you think is going to happen to him? He won’t get in trouble, will he?”

 

“I’m sure he will,” Tooth answered, darting around the group restlessly. “Mr. Moon is hardest on him, always has been.”

 

“Forget about him,” Bunny hissed. “What about _you_? You don’t think you’re going to get away with that, do you?”

 

“Me?” Jack scoffed. “I didn’t do anything!”

 

“You overstepped Mr. Moon,” North explained, “in front of the VIP audience, no less. He must be very angry with you.”

 

“But I didn’t mean to overstep him or anything! I just didn’t want Pitch to hurt that guy! . . . What will he do to me? He won’t throw me out, will he?” Jack began thinking of Emily, having to take her back to Burgess and to the police, as well as taking her from her new friends, and in a moment of panic, he thought of how hard it would be on himself to lose what he considered his new family.

 

“Don’t worry, Jack,” Tooth said comfortingly, putting a motherly arm around him. “I’m sure he wouldn’t do that. Mr. Moon is harsh, but he’s not cruel.”

 

“Not to mention, you’re incredibly valuable to the show,” Bunny muttered, receiving a glare from Tooth.

 

“There’s no point in worrying about that now,” she insisted. “Just try to get some sleep and deal with it in the morning.”

 

 _Easier said than done,_ Jack thought bitterly as they climbed one by one back onto the train. Emily had fallen asleep on the couch with the fairies with the TV on, so Jack turned it off while Tooth delicately gathered up her girls and Phil gently lifted Emily into his arms to take her to her bed. Jack curled up in his bed and laid awake for hours, stewing over the events of the past week until he finally fell into a dreamless sleep.

 

 

 

The next morning, Jack had almost forgotten the events of last night, and started getting ready for the day. Just as he was remembering what happened, and beginning to wonder what happened to Pitch, Bunny entered the train car and told Jack that Mr. Moon wanted to see him.

 

Jack felt as though a wave of doom had washed over him, and he looked around at the others, expecting to see his worries reflected in their eyes, but they smiled supportively at him.

 

Nick clapped him jovially on the back. “Relax, Jack. The worst that he’d do is give you a lecture and make you tend one of the game booths for a while, maybe do some extra work when we pack up and head to the next town.” He relaxed a little, comforted that the others weren’t too concerned, and went off to Mr. Moon’s car.

 

Rapping gently on the door, Jack held his breath, nervousness returning, mostly just because he didn’t know what Mr. Moon would say or do. A soft breath of air startled him and he looked to the side of the train car, where Pitch, still in his monster form, was tethered in the shadows and gazing at him calmly. The door in front of him opened before Jack could approach him, however, and Mr. Moon invited him inside.

 

He hadn’t been in there since that first night, and for a moment he could barely believe it had only been a week. This was his life now. Mr. Moon sat down at his desk and Jack sat across from him, waiting for the lecture to start.

 

“So, Jack, how are you adjusting to the business?” he asked pleasantly.

 

A little taken aback, Jack wasn’t sure how to answer at first. “Oh, I-I love it! I mean, I’ve made so many friends, and I love doing the shows and everything . . .”

 

Mr. Moon nodded. “And, Pitch Black. You two are . . . close?”

 

Jack raised his eyebrows. “Cl-close? I-I don’t know what you mean, we just, we’re just kind of friends, I haven’t even talked to him that much.”

 

“I see. Well, whatever the case may be, he certainly responds well to you. You see, in all the years I’ve been working with Mr. Pitchner, I’ve never quite been able to tame him in his monster form the way I’d like to.”

 

Jack nodded slowly, unsure yet where this is going.

 

“I have a proposition, if you’re amenable. You see, in addition to doing the freak show and setting up, some of the other freaks have other duties, like Pitch’s Nightmare booth, and Mr. North’s toys. I’d like you to help me train the monster.”

 

“ . . . uh, that . . . I don’t know. That seems kind of mean, to Pitch I mean. Like he’s an animal.”

 

“While he’s in that form, he _is_ an animal. If you need further incentive, I would be willing to assist you in your legal troubles.”

 

Jack’s eyes widened. “You know about that?”

 

“I know everything. I also happen to have a few connections. You want legal custody of your sister, right? It may take a few months, and there is a possibility of a mandatory court appearance, but you wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.”

 

Such a promise seemed too good to be true, and Jack felt guilty at the thought of treating Pitch like a pet. “Could you really do that?”

 

“I can, and I’d like to help you, but I need your help in return. What do you say?”

 

“Alright, I will.”


End file.
